Dad thought he was getting a nice tan and hitting his weight loss goals – until he was given a 7% chance of survival
WHEN David Slater started getting more tired than usual, his family didn’t think anything of it.
The dad had recently hit goal weight and was sporting a nice tan, which gave everyone the impression he was healthy.
But just four months later he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer which has a five-year survival rate of less than seven per cent.
“Learning about pancreatic cancer was heart-breaking as the prognosis is so bad,” David’s daughter, Lucinda Slater said.
She added: “I had heard of pancreatic cancer before Dad was diagnosed but I didn’t know much about it, or that it had one of the worst prognoses out of the many different types of cancer.
“Once pancreatic cancer is on your radar and affects someone in your family, you hear about it everywhere.”
David, from North Tyneside, was on a trip to London in March 2022 when his symptoms first emerged.
“Dad wasn’t feeling very well during the trip, and he has always been full of beans, so it wasn’t like him to feel fatigued,” Lucinda, said.
“He was experiencing some pain in his shoulder, and he had lost some weight, but he was trying to lose a few pounds, so we didn’t think anything of it.
“Dad also thought he had been developing a nice tan, but disappointingly it turned out to be jaundice,” she added.
In June he went to see the GP, who initially thought he might have liver cancer.
But tests revealed he was suffering from pancreatic cancer, which is much harder to treat.
Earlier this year Former England football manager Sven-Goran Eriksson was told by doctors he has inoperable pancreatic cancer and has “at best a year to live”.
At first, surgeons weren’t sure if they would be able to operate.
But in October 2022 the family received the news that surgery would be attempted, though there were no guarantees it would be successful.
“For me, it felt very precarious for a long time and waiting to hear if he could have an operation was the hardest part of the whole experience,” Lucinda explained.
Despite the ten-hour operation being “really successful” David was kept in the hospital for a month to recover from an internal bleed.
David had the option of getting chemotherapy for six months after the surgery, but decided to turn it down in favour of “a chance to enjoy life”, Lucinda said.
“After mulling it over, he declined as his logic was that it wouldn’t improve his odds of survival by much,” she added.
‘SO LUCKY TO HAVE HIM WITH US’
When he arrived home his recovery accelerated even quicker.
“Since then, he has been back to normal aside from being diabetic, to the extent that you think ‘Did that really happen?’,” Lucinda added.
The cancer attacks the pancreas, a vital organ about the size of your hand that produces enzymes to break down food and insulin to control blood sugar.
Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival of all common cancers, with five-year survival less than seven per cent, according to Pancreatic Cancer Action.
Around 10,500 people are diagnosed with the disease every year in the UK, and half of cases are not found until the tumour is at stage four and has already spread.
Often it has no symptoms or they are mistaken for something else.
Lucinda has since run the 2024 Hackney Half Marathon in east London to raise vital funds for Pancreatic Cancer Action.
She said: “My Dad is a pancreatic cancer survivor.
“We are so lucky to have him with us and I don’t want to take that for granted.
“I want to help change things so that other families are in the same position as us and their loved ones survive.”
Pancreatic cancer: Symptoms
Pancreatic cancer often doesn't cause symptoms in its early stages, but it can cause symptoms as it grows and affects nearby organs or spreads.
Symptoms can include:
- Pain in the abdomen or back that may spread
- Yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes, and dark urine
- Unexplained weight loss, even if you haven’t changed your diet
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea and vomiting
- Itching
- Feeling tired
- High temperature
- Feeling hot and shivery
Other symptoms may depend on where the cancer is in the body, such as a buildup of fluid in the abdomen (ascites)
Research suggests that a sudden onset of type 2 diabetes in people age 50 or older may also be an early symptom of pancreatic cancer.
Sources: Pancreatic Cancer Action UK + Cancer Research UK