Warning as ‘kindest, funniest’ husband loses cancer battle

Minehead resident Jane Clapinson is joining Pancreatic Cancer UK in highlighting the symptoms of the deadliest common cancer after her husband Colin died in 2022 just nine months after diagnosis. Retired probation officer Colin first started to have symptoms in 2020 but several different tests came back clear, until a CT-scan a year later revealed devastating news. Jane is sharing his story this November to mark Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month in a bid to help prevent others from experiencing the heartbreak of a late diagnosis.

Tragically, like Colin, 80 per cent of people with pancreatic cancer are not diagnosed until after the disease has spread - almost double the proportion for other cancers. This has contributed to pancreatic cancer having the lowest treatment rate (34 per cent) of any common cancer - comparing poorly with treatment rates for breast (86 per cent), bowel (74 per cent) and lung (56 per cent) cancers. More than half of people with pancreatic cancer die within three months of diagnosis, making it the deadliest common cancer.

Colin volunteering and enjoying the countryside

Colin was enjoying retirement when he first started to experience pain beneath his breastbone in September 2020. He had a blood test which came back clear and then later a gastroscopy; this showed some inflammation in his stomach for which he was prescribed medication. The couple thought they were on their way to solving the problem, however, the symptoms continued and by the time of Jane's 70th birthday in May 2021 Colin could barely eat.

He called his GP but as COVID-19 restrictions were still in place didn't have an in-person appointment. His stomach pain continued to worsen throughout the summer, and he began to lose a lot of weight. Colin was sent for an Ultrasound, which ruled out Gallstones, and after another gastroscopy again found nothing untoward, Colin was sent for a CT scan.

Jane, 72, said: "We met with the gastroenterologist on the Monday after the CT scan, and he broke the news to us. Colin had stage four pancreatic cancer which had spread to his lymph nodes and his lung. "This was the worst news we could have imagined.

I remember gasping and Colin turned to me and said, 'It'll be OK'. It was then that I lost the plot and broke down." The major cause of late diagnosis is pancreatic cancer's vague symptoms - such as back pain, indigestion and unexpected weight-loss - because these are also common to many less serious health conditions.

With no early detection tools to help them, it is very difficult for GPs to identify who should be urgently referred for scans to confirm or rule out the disease. Nearly half of all pancreatic cancer patients are currently diagnosed via an emergency (such as through visiting A&E). With chemotherapy, doctors believed that Colin could have had up to 13 months to live.

He started the treatment in January but was already in a lot of pain. Jane said: "Colin had the first round of chemotherapy, and he was dreadfully ill. He couldn't eat anything at all - he lost about 2kg in that first week alone.

"It was at this point that Colin started to question whether he wanted to continue his chemotherapy. He decided not to have any more sessions and to instead make the most of the time he had left, which I fully supported."

Colin spent a few weeks at a local hospice to help manage the pain he was feeling before returning home. He received excellent care both from the hospice team and district nurses, and regular visits from his children and grandchildren kept his spirits up.

Over time Colin became increasingly unwell and he sadly died on September 5 2022. Jane said: "After we registered Colin's death, I needed to be on my own for a few days, to be just alone in spirit with the husband I adored. My marriage to Colin was my third.

We had been married 19 years and he was the kindest, funniest man I'll ever know. "I read something recently that said, 'I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with you but now I realise you spent the rest of your life with me'. I wish Colin and I had had more time together, but I am so glad we found each other."

This Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, Pancreatic Cancer UK wants people to familiarise themselves with pancreatic cancer, the symptoms to be aware of, and the impact it can have on people diagnosed and their families. It is calling on the public to have conversations with friends, family, and colleagues about the deadliest common cancer, in the hopes that it could prevent a late diagnosis in the future. Pancreatic Cancer UK recommends that anyone experiencing one or more of the most common symptoms - back pain, indigestion, tummy pain and weight-loss - for more than four weeks should contact their GP.

Anyone with jaundice (yellowing of the eyes or skin) should immediately go to A&E. Early diagnosis is crucial in improving both survival and quality of life. Diana Jupp, CEO of Pancreatic Cancer UK, said: "Tragically, for thousands of people each year their pancreatic cancer goes undetected until after it is too late to save them.

Early diagnosis is vitally important to giving those with this devastating disease the best possible chance of survival, more so than with any other common cancer. "That's why for Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month this November, we are urging the public to learn more about the disease, to talk to their loved ones and, if they have persistent symptoms, not to put off seeing their GP. "We do not want people to panic if they have some or all of these symptoms.

They are also shared by many other less serious health conditions and most people experiencing them will not have pancreatic cancer.

Yet awareness is worryingly low, and while our teams of world class researchers continue to develop the early detection tools desperately needed by doctors, we need the public's help to breakthrough the silence around the deadliest common cancer in the UK."

References

1. ^ Locals fight to save popular Yeovil pub from closure (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
2. ^ Magical Christmas ice rink opens at Somerset shopping village (www.somersetlive.co.uk)