JUST IMAGINE…..
The year was 2010.
Elizabeth O’Connor was just 31 years old, happily married to Patrick O’Connor with a young 6-year old daughter, Abigale. She was now pregnant again and so excited, looking forward to giving birth to a baby boy, Andrew.
Joy turned to concern about halfway through her pregnancy when she began having symptoms giving her serious concern. Sudden symptoms such as nausea, stomach pains, and serious fatigue. Discussing her concerns with her ob-gyn, he immediately scheduled ultrasound scans that could show reasons for the new onset symptoms.
Unfortunately, scans did show the existence of a large ovarian cyst which likely were causing the new symptoms which gradually worsened. Following blood clots in her arm, more diagnostic procedures showed metastatic pancreatic cancer had spread to her ovaries.
Her new son, Andrew was delivered via c-section six weeks prematurely and remained in the hospital several weeks until he was healthy enough to go home. Elizabeth and her husband were now a family of four.
HOW DOES A 31 YEAR-OLD GET STAGE 4 PANCREATIC CANCER?
The average age at diagnosis is 70-years old. Particularly “Adenocarcinoma”, the worst type. Today, statistics show the average 5-year survival rate for a patient diagnosed Stage 4 pancreatic cancer is only about 3%. Three out of 100 means a poor prognosis.
For Elizabeth, the road forward gets worse before it got better.
Her Atlanta-based oncologist said “no one holds a crystal ball to project life” before he recommended that Elizabeth travel to Scottsdale, Arizona to meet with Dr. Daniel Von Hoff, an elite, world-renowned pancreatic cancer researcher. Dr. Von Hoff was also the brains behind several ground-breaking pancreatic cancer clinical trials.
Doctor Von Hoff adjusted her chemotherapy regime to maximize effectiveness. He also directed her to Milwaukee-based surgeon Dr. Douglas B. Evans of the Medical College of Wisconsin who eventually removed about 75% of her pancreas.
What followed was 30 months of intensive chemotherapy. Her status was declared “stable”. The following year, painful spasms ultimately revealed her worst fears. The cancer had returned and spread to a lung and her brain. Over the next few months, Elizabeth had ling surgery, brain surgery, and brain radiation.
But in May of 2018, she suffered a seizure, and a subsequent biopsy revealed more pancreatic cancer in her brain. While some of her physicians recommended another biopsy, Dr. Von Hoff instead chose to treat her using GGB-290, a PARP Inhibitor not yet available on the American market. Subsequent MRI scans revealed her condition had stabilized. She credits Dr. Von Hoff, her family and friends who refused to let her quit.
ELIZABETH O’CONNOR IS A TRUE HERO. No quit in her vocabulary. Constantly kept believing.
Read her original story here: [ Ссылка ]
