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Mum's Legacy Fuels Daughter's Battle Against Cancer
13 Oct
Summary
- Rebecca Bird fears pancreatic cancer after losing both parents.
- Existing treatments are often too intense for patients to tolerate.
- Seven in 10 patients receive no treatment for pancreatic cancer.
Rebecca Bird experienced the devastating loss of both her parents to pancreatic cancer. Her father succumbed to the disease recently, just years after her mother's passing.
Witnessing her father's similar symptoms and late diagnosis intensified Bird's fear for her own future. She highlights that seven in 10 individuals diagnosed with pancreatic cancer do not receive any treatment.
Bird's mother, Beverley, who lived in Australia, was initially misdiagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2016. When her symptoms worsened, an inoperable tumor was discovered on her pancreas.
Beverley underwent a grueling but successful clinical trial using an implanted device, Oncosil, which released radiation to shrink the tumor, allowing for surgery. However, the cancer returned after two years.
