Bonjour mes Amis. Je m'appelle...... Oops, sorry. Hello everyone. My name is Ruth McKiernan. I am 57 years of age and have recently taken early retirement from a wonderful career in teaching in Burnley which has spanned more than 36 years. An exiled Jarrow lass from the banks of the Tyne, I arrived in Lancashire in 1978. I taught for 3 years at Mansfield High School and then spent from 1981 to 2006 at St Theodore's RC High School, the happiest time of my working life. When the BSF programme started and the schools in Burnley were altered I moved to Thomas Whitham Sixth Form, along with colleagues from St. Theodore's and Habergham and spent 8 happy years there before I took early retirement in July.

I had planned on spending my first holiday after retirement on a white sandy beach somewhere in the Maldives with the palm trees swaying in the gentle breeze but fate decided otherwise and on August 19th I was diagnosed with a pancreatic cancer.

Miss Kauser, my surgeon felt that the cancer was operable and on September 23rd I had a Whipple procedure. I had to laugh when she first told me because it did sound like something you might buy in an Ann Summers catalogue! Having had it and still getting over it, I can tell you categorically, it has nothing at all to do with anything remotely pleasurable. If you want to know more then please look at

www.pancreaticcanceraction.org

Pancreatic cancer is the 5th most common cause of cancer death in the UK, with the lowest survival rate of the 21 most common cancers. Out of 100 patients diagnosed, under 4% of patients survive five years or more. Despite all this, Pancreatic Cancer receives only 1% of the total Cancer Research Spend. What is really terrifying is that in the last 40 years pancreatic cancer survival rates have barely changed. In that time, we have seen the first face transplant surgery, the introduction of antiretroviral drugs for HIV, the eradication of smallpox and the introduction of tamoxifen for breast cancer treatment. It just doesn't make sense, does it ?

Do you actually know where your pancreas is and what it does ?

It is a large gland ,shaped a bit like a fish and it is situated deep in the abdomen , in between the stomach and the spine. The pancreas pays an important role in the digestion system as it produces enzymes which break down everything you eat. My pancreas no longer does this job and so I need to take enzyme supplements, even to drink a cup of tea or eat a biscuit. The second really important function it has is that it produces hormones which regulate blood sugar. Without this function, we would become diabetic. 

I am considered very lucky as 85% of all pancreatic cancer patients are diagnosed too late and the cancer is inoperable. This is because this type of cancer is so very hard to detect and diagnose and also because although it is the 5th most common cancer in the UK only 1% of research funding is spent on pancreatic cancer.

Even for patients like me, who have had the Whipple's procedure, the chances of survival of 5 years or more are very slim.

I hope to defy the statistics.

Why am I writing this? More than anything else, I want to help you become more aware of this silent cancer, find out about the symptoms, the diagnosis and how it is treated. November is the awareness month for pancreatic cancer. You could send off to pancreatic cancer action for an information pack and ask the practice manager at your surgery if you could display the information on a notice board. Included in the pack is a free e-learning module for the GPs which I am sure they will find useful.

What else could you do? If you are thinking about organising a get together, a party, a reunion, a quiz night or any activity that you would normally do for fun, then you could try and raise a bit of money to help fund the research for this deadly cancer. You may have a small business and could donate a prize or a service for an auction which could be held.

You could consider also consider making a donation through this page. It does not matter how small. And I know that times are hard, so don't worry if that is not possible. Just make sure that you read the websites and increase your awareness.

I thank you all so much for the cards, well wishes and prayers offered for me. You will never really understand the strength that I feel from that.

Keep praying for me as my Chemotherapy is on the horizon. 

God bless. 

You may find the following websites very useful and informative:

www.pancreaticcanceraction.org

www.cancer.org

www.pcrf.org.uk