Louise shares her story on International Women’s Day

Louise Gillespie, from Aberdeen, was diagnosed with neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer in September 2015 which is a rare form of the disease. In the UK, pancreatic cancer affects 1 in 6,500 people and only 4 in every 100 cases of pancreatic cancer are neuroendocrine tumours.

Before she was diagnosed, Louise knew very little about pancreatic cancer, other than it is difficult to diagnose as it usually presents vague symptoms.

Louise explains about her diagnosis, “It was a minefield to be honest, as it is so rare, I had to get a specialist Oncologist to start my treatment as no one else had heard of it. I did google my disease but found it so very confusing to get my head round.”

“My specialist Oncologist was great, she was great at explaining about the disease and making sure I got the right treatment.”

“An earlier diagnosis would have been great, but unfortunately they were very late in giving me the scans I needed.”

Louise is still undergoing treatment for her cancer, over 3 years from her diagnosis.

She says, “I was diagnosed 3 years ago and since then things are not the greatest, it’s spread to my bones and I am currently receiving chemotherapy in tablet form at home.”

“This in itself is horrendous as it has made me very ill, I have had various problems and been hospitalised a few times. It’s a nightmare if I am honest.”

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