Pancreatic cancer survivor reveals five early signs as he battles the disease for a second time - The Independent

A pancreatic cancer subsister battling the illness for a 2nd clip has shared the aboriginal signs radical of each ages should know.

Charles Czajkowski, 63, a concern improvement manager for a geotechnical institution from Surbiton, Kingston, has “declared warfare connected pancreatic cancer” aft a five-year ordeal with 2 rounds of the illness – which besides caused the decease of his parent Romaulda, aged 78, successful 1999.

Mr Czajkowski, who is hoping attraction helium received done his wife’s backstage healthcare bundle volition prevention his life, is acceptable to talk to MPs connected successful the Commons connected Wednesday to impulse the authorities to supply greater backing for the condition.

He volition talk alongside 20 others who either person the illness oregon who person mislaid idiosyncratic to it arsenic portion of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.

After his wellness began to diminution successful 2017, Charles faced a bid of delays to his diagnosis and attraction done the NHS until helium accessed Bupa healthcare done the workplace of his woman of 16 years, Jackie Czajkowski.

After archetypal attraction success, successful May 2022 Charles’ crab returned and backstage oncologists are present attempting to usage a bid of drugs, immoderate of which are unavailable connected the NHS, to prevention his life.

Now moving to combat the unwellness and assistance patients to spot it early, Charles is simply a pancreatic diligent typical and connected the technological advisory committee for Pancreatic Cancer UK.

He is besides a pancreatic diligent typical for NHS Cancer UK, arsenic portion of the government’s 10-year program to assistance optimise the aboriginal diagnostics and aboriginal attraction program for anybody with pancreatic cancer, liver crab oregon biliary cancer.

“It’s fixed maine control,” Charles said.

“Pancreatic crab has declared warfare connected me… truthful to get backmost astatine it, I’ve declared warfare connected pancreatic crab by being capable to assistance amended and prevention different people’s lives.

“It’s an consciousness conflict due to the fact that pancreatic crab UK hasn’t had overmuch aerial clip and hasn’t had the investment.”

Charles’s ordeal arsenic a crab diligent began successful 2017 erstwhile helium was diagnosed with benignant 2 diabetes.

Halfway done that year, helium had a pancreatic onslaught – besides known arsenic acute pancreatitis – which, according to the NHS, is simply a terrible symptom which starts abruptly successful the centre of a patient’s abdomen and tin besides beryllium accompanied by vomiting and a precocious temperature.

For the remainder of the year, Charles was nether reflection amid repeated pancreatic attacks and helium was rapidly losing weight, dropping from 85kg to astir 75kg astatine 6ft tall.

“Another motion that things weren’t going close was that my pancreas wasn’t producing the enzymes and truthful I started getting what they telephone pancreatic diarrhea, which is simply a existent motion if your food’s not being digested properly,” Charles added.

As a result, his GP prescribed Charles Pancreatic Enzyme Replacement Therapy (Pert) which made Charles’ value unchangeable arsenic helium was present capable to sorb nutrients.

From there, Charles was sent to a bid of antithetic hospitals for scans and assessments.

Eventually, astatine the opening of March 2019, further tests revealed a 10-millimetre tumour connected the caput of Charles’ pancreas.

On March 25 2019, Charles met with the caput of the surgical squad astatine Hammersmith Hospital alongside his woman and a Macmillan nurse.

“He said to me, Charles, you don’t person chronic pancreatitis, you person pancreatic cancer,” Charles said.

“They had a Macmillan caregiver determination due to the fact that evidently radical mostly spell into shock.

“But I abruptly conscionable said, ‘Okay, truthful what are we going to bash astir this Professor?’”

The NHS doc explained to Charles that a whipple process to region the caput of the pancreas, the archetypal portion of the tiny intestine, the gallbladder and the bile duct, would instrumentality spot 2 months later.

After researching the endurance complaint for pancreatic cancer, Charles feared this hold clip was a hazard truthful decided to spell backstage for the remainder of his attraction done his wife’s Bupa aesculapian cover.

Just 1 week later, his cognition was carried retired astatine the London Clinic Hospital utilizing a Da Vinci surgical robot.

“I was fundamentally told to accidental goodbye to my wife, due to the fact that the cognition comes with a batch of risk,” Charles said.

“So it was precise hard erstwhile we some went into the pre-med country due to the fact that I didn’t cognize if I was going to aftermath up from this large operation.

“But luckily for me, conscionable erstwhile I was saying goodbye, they had conscionable injected maine with the pre-med and adjacent happening I was out.”

On April 2, the backstage cognition progressive making 5 holes successful Charles’ abdomen, meaning determination is little of a emergence of infection, and Charles was retired of infirmary 13 days later.

A period aft that Charles began six months of fortnightly chemotherapy sessions, which led to his value dropping to conscionable astir 67kg – earlier his diagnosis helium was astir 85kg. “I looked skeletal,” Charles said.

“But I managed to instrumentality it out. With a batch of hard work, you person to combat it, it’s a battle.”

After the chemo, a scan recovered nary instances of caller tumours until – astatine the commencement of 2020 – different scan revealed dots connected his close lung and a lymph node swelling adjacent to his aorta.

By August 2020, the dots had grown into 10-millimetre tumours, truthful Charles had a lung ablation – a surgical attraction wherever a probe is inserted which volition destruct the tumour with utmost vigor oregon cold.

The lymph node attraction was much analyzable arsenic modular radiotherapy would person besides touched Charles’ aorta and determination was a hazard of it rupturing.

Instead, astatine the opening of October, Charles was treated astatine Genesis Care successful Oxford with a caller technology, MRIdian Linac – a directed radiotherapy utilizing an MRI strategy truthful collateral harm is minimised.

After 5 one-hour sessions implicit 2 weeks, the lymph node tumour was gone and determination was nary harm to Charles’ aorta, meaning Charles’ beingness could yet instrumentality to mean too the three-month check-up scans.

At this point, Charles decided to dedicate his life, too his enactment and family, to pancreatic crab campaigning, joining Pancreatic Cancer UK and becoming a pancreatic crab diligent typical for Genesis Care.

However, successful May 2022, a CT scan revealed his pancreatic crab had returned successful a secondary form.

At this stage, determination is nary cure for his condition, but Charles’ oncologist enactment him backmost connected chemotherapy with 2 caller drugs, 1 of which is not disposable connected the NHS.

After 3 months of attraction the tumours continued to turn and, successful September, Charles began different circular of chemotherapy fortnightly.

He volition find retired if this attraction has shrunk his tumour aboriginal this month.

On his sojourn to parliament, helium and others volition talk individually to betwixt 60 and 80 MPs who person signed up to the Pancreatic Cancer UK inaugural arsenic portion of their No Time To Wait campaign.

“Our relation is to archer our story, basically, to amended them truthful they tin recognize we request much investments,” helium said.

Reflecting connected his acquisition with cancer, Charles said: “Fighting crab is much than warring it physically, it’s mental.

“You person to ore connected each the positivity, you tin get retired of it.

“I’ve travelled each implicit the satellite successful my occupation and person been to places that radical would person dreamt of going, and I took that for granted.

“But going done crab puts your full beingness into perspective.”