Maia Dunphy shared the symptoms of the silent cancer that her mum Helen passed away from.
The broadcaster explained that her mum was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer - a condition that many people find out they have too late because the signs of the disease are incredibly common.
She is urging people to learn how to spot and connect the symptoms as early detection is the key to beating this type of cancer.
Read more: Cork woman Pamela Deasy survives ‘silent cancer’ to return to college after diagnosis at 46
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Maia wonders if her mum would have survived, if her family had known more about pancreatic cancer.
She told RSVP Live: “I often wonder if she would still be with us today had she been diagnosed earlier.”
The symptoms of pancreatic cancer can include belly pain that spreads to the sides or back, loss of appetite, weight loss, yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes, light-coloured or floating stools, dark-coloured urine, itching, a new diagnosis of diabetes or diabetes that's getting harder to control, pain and swelling in an arm or leg which might be caused by a blood clot and tiredness or weakness - according to the Mayo Clinic.
She is asking people to be aware of their health and connect these symptoms, which people otherwise might think are separate.
Maia continued: “The symptoms can be terribly non-specific so people shouldn’t be alarmed if they suddenly develop back pain or reflux, which my mum experienced, as chances are they are simply back pain or reflux.
“But if any symptoms or body changes that are new to you persist, or if you have a combination of symptoms, please, please consider getting checked out.”
The writer added: “We had one family friend of my brother’s who had died of pancreatic cancer in his 40s and we all heard of Steve Jobs. We thought, ‘If Steve Jobs can’t survive it then what chance is there for anybody?’
“I have memories that pop up on my phone and there’s a picture of my mum with my son in 2019 and 2020, I just feel so sad about it. I remember her saying that she had gone to the doctor and she had reflux. I see the pictures and think, ‘If only I had known back then’.
“The important thing about this campaign with Pancreatic Cancer Ireland is that we don’t want to scaremonger. I mentioned reflux, but I can’t think of anyone who hasn’t had reflux at some point or even all the time. Most of the time reflux is just reflux. But it’s when it’s combined with other symptoms.
“My mum also had elevated glucose levels. Doctors said she was pre-diabetic. We didn’t understand how that was possible because my mum was slim and had a really good diet. She even overhauled her diet.
“We are trying to reach GPs and pharmacists too with this campaign as we are trying to ring the alarm bells if somebody has a few of these symptoms so they can investigate more.
“My mum was having quite simple things treated individually, rather than looked at as a collection of symptoms.”
Her mother passed away in 2022, six months after undergoing the hugely-invasive Whipple surgery in an effort to treat her pancreatic cancer. Whipple surgery is an operation to treat tumours and other conditions in the pancreas, small intestine and bile ducts.
“We thought my mam had been diagnosed in time,” she shared. “She had the Whipple procedure - it’s a very invasive surgery.”
A diagnosis of pancreatic cancer can also be very difficult for family members, with Maia sharing that people can support those affected by actively helping them out.
“I’m somebody that tends to pull the shutters down. I didn’t really ask for help. Sometimes people would say to me, ‘We didn’t know’,” she said.
“People really want to help and it’s not too much. Everybody will have some sort of reference point for difficulty and sadness. It might not be cancer. It might be another loss or the break-up of a relationship. You’re not putting people out. It could be help with school runs or food.”
November is World Pancreatic Cancer awareness month and this week the people who founded Pancreatic Cancer Ireland last year are launching the 2024 5 in 6 campaign, the aim of which is to highlight one of Ireland’s deadliest cancers, which kills five in every six people diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas. You can find out more information here.
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