Suzanne Ford, 67, considers herself "incredibly lucky" to have caught pancreatic cancerat one of the earliest possible stages. Speaking out on Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Day, Suzanne acknowlegdes just howrare her case isgiven the disease has a 5% long-term survival rate and only one in 10 patientsare able to undergo the potentially life-saving surgery she received.

The York resident was enjoying a holiday in Nice, France, in September 2023 when she started to feel slightly under the weather. She'd been in good health whilst "eating, drinking, making merry" with her mates but began experiencing nausea during the final days of their trip.

Initially, she put it down to simple "over-indulgence" affecting her system, but once back home her condition deteriorated and she noticed her stools had changed colour, followed by an all-over body itch which spurred her to seek medical advice.

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She explained to PA Real Life: "I am an ex-nurse, so that kind of alerted me that something might not be quite right, but I hadn't a clue what was going on."

Her doctor arranged blood tests and cleared her to return to her nursing role, but merely six days after her symptoms began she was scheduled for a CT scan which revealed she had pancreatic cancer. Suzanne was "devastated".

Pancreatic cancer frequently has no warning signs in its earliest phases. When symptoms do emerge, they can include jaundice, itchy skin, darker urine and stools than normal, loss of appetite, fatigue, diarrhoea or constipation, abdominal pain and nausea.

This form of cancer ranks as the fifth most lethal cancer killer across the UK and boasts the poorest survival rates amongst all prevalent cancers. Being a nurse, Suzanne understood her chances all too well.

She explained: "I knew the futility of people who've been diagnosed late with pancreatic cancer in accessing treatment that could be life-saving. So I knew that there could be a really poor outcome for myself."

Due to her early detection, Suzanne received approval for potentially life-saving surgery that merely one in 10 pancreatic patients will undergo.

In November 2023, she underwent a pancreaticoduodenectomy which eliminates sections of the pancreas, the initial portion of the small intestine, the gallbladder and segments of the bile duct before reconnecting the pancreas tail to the small intestine. Or as Suzanne described it: "replumb your insides".

Her pathology findings revealed her cancer was stage three, rather than the initially diagnosed stage two. However, there hadn't been any local spreading and the surgery was a success, followed by months of chemotherapy that put Suzanne into the 5% of survivors.

Suzanne achieved a "very very good recovery" which she attributes to maintaining fitness and health prior to her diagnosis. Combined with the excellent care she received and a helping of "incredible luck" that she avoided complications.

She continued: "In my circumstance, the fact that my gallbladder was blocked and I was scanned so early on, although I had relatively mild symptoms, it saved my life. If it had been left, it would have become inoperable, and I would have been another one of the statistics."

Suzanne's battle with cancer has fuelled her passion to support the pioneering work of Professor George Hanna and his team at Imperial College. With a £1.1 million investment from Pancreatic Cancer UK, they are developing a world-first breath test for the disease that could be used in GP surgeries.

The team is now set to conduct a large UK-wide clinical trial with the test. If successful, it could significantly improve the prognosis of those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Suzanne expressed: "I think this is going to be a fantastic tool for GPs, because all these people that go with these vague symptoms again and again...The difference that will make is it means that the percentage of people that are picked up early will rise, and those who (are diagnosed) will have a much better survival rate because they can get to treatment much earlier, hopefully."

Anna Jewell, director of support, research & influencing at Pancreatic Cancer UK, stated: "Suzanne's story is proof that it is possible to live well after pancreatic cancer and enjoy all the wonderful things life has to offer, like precious time with her grandchildren.

"Tragically, too few people are currently diagnosed early enough for life-saving treatment because detecting the disease in its earliest stages is a huge challenge for doctors.

"Thousands of people with unknown symptoms are now helping to validate the breath test, and it will be several years before we know the outcome. But if the scientists are successful, and the test is then adopted by the NHS, the impact on early detection could be revolutionary. It could pave the way to thousands more people a year surviving the deadliest common cancer."