00:00On the cease of September 2024, I was told by my specialist that I had pancreatic cancer.
00:09We're just going to do chemo just to make sure we've mopped everything up.
00:13I was told that it was preventative, but that will put you on the hardest chemo like a sledgehammer.
00:19My body can't tolerate chemo. I lost 35 kilos, spent six months in bed. It was the darkest time
00:27of our life. Yeah, both emotionally and physically.
00:32We rang the bell at the end of the six months, and we all genuinely believed that was it.
00:39Surely nothing can survive through that. Nothing can survive.
00:43But it was quite literally the first scan. We found cancer and inflammation that spread to your lungs.
00:51It was a shock. It was, what do you mean? I've got cancer in the lungs. Okay,
00:56what treatment options next? What's my prognosis? Nine to 12 months is your prognosis, your terminal.
01:04There's no other treatment options available. We have to get you on a clinical trial to get you
01:09more time. Like, what? Like, we get one shot. With the fact that I'd already had the genetic testing
01:18done, we could move quick. And what that genetic testing did was identify early on what my tumour
01:24type was. There were two clinical trials that are targeted to my tumour type, thank goodness.
01:31The further I'm away from chemo, the better. I'm still recovering from the chemo, but I'm a different
01:37person. They're all excited that things are heading in the right direction. And even if I get to five
01:42years, that's a huge win because that wasn't even possible like a few months ago. The trial has been a
01:49godsend. And obviously, we're very nervous until we do the first scan, but we dare to hope again.
01:57Remember September is an amazing initiative. It is the biggest fundraiser for research of the year.
02:03For people living with pancreatic cancer, research is everything. Without it, there's no options.
02:08It gives us hope for the future, more time with our family. For those of us that can't tolerate chemo,
02:14which seems to be the only option at the moment, it gives us another alternative.
02:20You really are giving back to something, something larger than yourself. Getting out there and knowing
02:25that you're doing something with people and for the better good for everyone, really. I think it's
02:31just a fantastic initiative. And it gives us hope and positivity as we're going through it, that it's
02:38not just about us. It's about building the pancreatic cancer community. You feel the love and support,
02:44and then people donate more. So it's a win-win. Remember September is about fundraising for research.
02:54You need to get involved so we can really make a difference to the world.
