Pamela Deasy was in her early 40s, working full time and volunteering with the RNLI, when fatigue started dragging her back into bed in the middle of the day. Her bloods were clear. She was told it was perimenopause, then depression. Months passed before a kinesiologist, of all people, pointed at her pancreas β and within days she was in a Cork hospital being told she had a tumour.In this episode, Pamela sits down with Laura to walk through what happened next: the chemotherapy that made her legs turn to jelly, the five and a half w...
Pamela Deasy was in her early 40s, working full time and volunteering with the RNLI, when fatigue started dragging her back into bed in the middle of the day. Her bloods were clear. She was told it was perimenopause, then depression. Months passed before a kinesiologist, of all people, pointed at her pancreas β and within days she was in a Cork hospital being told she had a tumour.
In this episode, Pamela sits down with Laura to walk through what happened next: the chemotherapy that made her legs turn to jelly, the five and a half weeks of daily radiotherapy that put her on her back in hospital, and the Whipple surgery that took out the head of her pancreas, part of her stomach, part of her intestine, her gallbladder and her spleen. Then the slower, quieter battle that came after β the seven and a half stone she lost, the survivor guilt nobody warned her about, the Survive and Thrive programme that helped her step back into the world, and the small camping toilet she now keeps in her car because that is the honest reality of life after Whipple surgery.
Pamela also shares why she co-founded Pancreatic Cancer Ireland, what the signs of pancreatic cancer actually look like, and why "listen to your gut and keep going back" might be the most important sentence you hear this week.
π Key Points
- Why fatigue was Pamela's only consistent symptom β and how easy it was to put down to a busy life, perimenopause and then depression
- The signs of pancreatic cancer worth knowing: persistent tiredness, pain in the tummy that radiates to the back, floaty stools, dark urine, jaundice, an itch with no rash, new pre-diabetes
- What Whipple surgery actually involves, and why it is described as life-saving but life-altering
- The realities of life after a rewired digestive system, from packing a change of clothes to always knowing where the toilet is
- The chemotherapy side effects that have lingered for years β neuropathy, Raynaud's, cold intolerance
- Survivor guilt, the drop-off in support after the "all clear", and finding her way back through the Survive and Thrive programme
- Why pancreatic cancer is projected to be the second leading cause of cancer-related death by 2030
- Pamela's everyday philosophy: advocate for yourself, listen to your gut, and treasure the ordinary days
π Resources
Pancreatic Cancer Ireland
Survive and Thrive
β±οΈ Timestamps
00:00 β Welcome
00:27 β Blackrock Health Women's Health Centre
01:34 β Introducing Pamela and trusting your gut
02:13 β 2018: fatigue, busy work and the RNLI
03:04 β Going back to the GP again and again
05:01 β A kidney scan and "the good news is there's no cancer"
06:00 β Being told she might be depressed
06:16 β A kinesiologist who pointed at her pancreas
07:17 β Jaundice and the alarm bell
08:51 β Friday 7th December: into hospital in Cork
09:22 β "You have a tumour in your pancreas"
12:02 β What Whipple surgery actually is
13:00 β Six rounds of chemotherapy
13:30 β Side effects: falling, neuropathy, Raynaud's
17:48 β Radiotherapy, gemcitabine and six weeks in hospital
21:51 β Whipple surgery on 15 August 2019
23:20 β What was removed during Whipple
24:17 β Losing seven and a half stone and severe cachexia
26:14 β Ascites and the slow road back
29:48 β From patient to survivor
30:23 β Survivor guilt and finding therapy
31:11 β The Survive and Thrive programme
31:38 β Life after a rewired digestive system
34:55 β Pancreatic cancer statistics in Ireland
36:00 β The signs and symptoms worth knowing
42:00 β Setting up Pancreatic Cancer Ireland
47:58 β Where to find Pamela
49:25 β Advice for younger people, and the meaning of life
51:38 β Blackrock Health Women's Health Centre
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