Helen
Helen was 44 when she started to notice symptoms. She later found out she had ampullary cancer, where the pancreatic duct and bile duct meet. One year on, she tells us about her difficult but successful treatments, and how she is living life to the full.
I first noticed symptoms when I was 44, after a week-long bug in August 2023. I’d never been an ill person before this all started, in fact I would say I rarely had a day of ill health.
Then, in October 2023, I was on a return flight from Australia and had what appeared to be bad food poisoning. The picture of me in the sea was at the Great Barrier Reef. My daughter and I were visiting my dad, as we’d done several times before. We had the best time.
I was suddenly very ill
A week later I had a kind of seizure. My temperature was 41 and I had jaundice and sepsis. At the hospital, I insisted on an endoscopy. This detected a tumour in my ampulla of Vater. At the time, the medics thought that this was benign.
I had surgery, but recovery wasn’t easy
In February 2024 I had a Whipple’s procedure, which confirmed I had ampullary cancer. After I had my Whipple I spent five days in intensive care. This was the lowest point for me.
I started chemotherapy in April 2024. The selfie is a picture of me at home with the chemo. I only tolerated six rounds of chemo as I developed a severe reaction to the treatment.
When I returned home after my Whipple I found it very difficult to be around anyone. My husband, children, mum, friends and dogs were my rock through this all and I am eternally grateful for their love and support.
I was so pleased that my husband took the children away on a lovely holiday shortly after my operation, so I had a bit of time to process everything that had happened and try to get through this in the only way I knew how to.
Coping with the emotional impact
I had a lot of pain throughout my illness, and this had an impact on my mental health. I needed a hernia repair operation after I was finished with the rest of my treatment. This helped me to feel better. And at various points on this journey I had psychological support to help me through it.
I had so many days when I had to really dig deep to get through each day. I’ve never enjoyed craft, but I found that diamond art and painting helped. It gave me something to do when I couldn’t bear even watching tv or when I didn’t have the mental strength to read.
I would try and think of things that might make me feel 5% better. A friend bought me essential oil smelling products that I would use. I would try anything to try and lift me just a tiny bit from where I was.
It’s helped me to read stories of other young people on this site, particularly those with ampullary cancer.
I’m making the most of every day
I’m now one year post-Whipple. I’m living every day as positively as I can. I don’t waste a minute anymore. As you can see in my photo, I even travelled to China in November 2024, despite not being able to get travel insurance. Some people thought I was making a poor decision going to China, but I think in all this you have to be true to yourself and be the person you always were.
Life post-Whipple is very different to how I was before. But I have two teenagers so am keeping a strong head on and doing all I can to make every day count.
Helen
February 2025
