{"id":68659,"date":"2023-11-15T08:06:18","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T08:06:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rapidcelnews.com\/?p=68659"},"modified":"2023-11-15T08:06:18","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T08:06:18","slug":"i-woke-up-itching-all-over-and-feared-doctors-would-think-i-was-a-nutcase-they-sent-me-straight-to-ae-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rapidcelnews.com\/lifestyle\/i-woke-up-itching-all-over-and-feared-doctors-would-think-i-was-a-nutcase-they-sent-me-straight-to-ae-the-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"I woke up itching all over and feared doctors would think I was a nutcase – they sent me straight to A&E | The Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"

A WOMAN has revealed how she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer after waking up in the middle of the night itching all over.<\/p>\n

Barbara Green, 79, from Falls Church, Virginia, led an active life, walking every day and doing yoga before the strange symptom started in July 2022.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

She thought nothing of it at first but went to the doctors for a relief cream when the itching didn\u2019t subside for a week.<\/p>\n

Medics ordered blood tests when they found out her stools had become lighter coloured and urine was darker, and she was later diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.<\/p>\n

Barbara told Today: \u201cI was just so itchy, like if you had a bug bite that really drives you crazy, but this is like a bug bite that\u2019s spread to your entire body.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought the doctor was going to think I was a nut case for coming in because I was itchy.<\/p>\n

Read more on cancer<\/h2>\n

<\/picture>DRUG DEAL <\/span><\/p>\n

'Earth shattering\u2019 lung cancer pill 'halves' patients' risk of dying<\/h3>\n

<\/picture>KILLER RISK <\/span><\/p>\n

Teenage obesity increases the risk your child will develop 17 different cancers<\/h3>\n

\u201cI had no idea there was anything wrong with me. I thought I was perfectly fine. Everybody else seems to realise that pancreatic cancer is deadly. I didn\u2019t even know that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Around 8,800 Brits are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer every year, with 8,700 dying from the disease.<\/p>\n

It is responsible for one in 20 cancer deaths in the UK and is predicted to overtake breast cancer to become the country\u2019s fourth most deadly cancer by 2030.<\/p>\n

While five-year survival rates for most cancers have been improving, pancreatic cancer\u2019s rates have remained the same over the last 40 years, according to Pancreatic Cancer UK.<\/p>\n

Most read in Health<\/h2>\n

<\/picture>BED BOUND <\/span><\/p>\n

Any activity is better for hearts than sitting – even sleeping, scientists warn<\/h3>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/picture>PIE-EYED PHONE <\/span><\/p>\n

Incredible Smartphone app can tell if you\u2019re drunk with almost 100% accuracy<\/h3>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/picture>MIRACLE <\/span><\/p>\n

Man who lost his face to 7,200-volt electric shock gets world’s 1st eye transplant<\/h3>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/picture>FOOD FOR THOUGHT <\/span><\/p>\n

Cutting daily calories by just 12% could add years to your life<\/h3>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Late diagnosis is a common issue, with four in five cases being spotted when the disease has become metastatic \u2014 meaning it has spread to other organs and is harder to treat.<\/p>\n

Symptoms can include indigestion, tummy or back pain, changes to your poo, unexplained weight loss or loss of appetite and yellowing skin or eyes.<\/p>\n

However, in rare cases it can cause progressive itchiness that often accompanies jaundice \u2014 yellowing of the skin or eyes \u2014 like in Barbara\u2019s case.<\/p>\n

She said she was grateful her doctor recognised the symptom.<\/p>\n

He ordered blood tests that revealed her liver enzyme levels were dangerously high and she was later diagnosed with cancer.<\/p>\n

The disease had spread to her omentum \u2014 the fatty tissue that surrounds the stomach and intestines.<\/p>\n

She was not a candidate for surgery and doctors gave her less than a year to live, but she was given a course of chemotherapy.<\/p>\n

It has now been 15 months since her diagnosis and her tumour has shrunk so much it is barely visible on scans.<\/p>\n

Barbara said she doesn\u2019t \u201cknow how long I might live\u201d but says she doesn\u2019t \u201cseem to be dying on schedule\u201d.<\/p>\n

Read More on The Sun<\/h2>\n

<\/picture>QUEUE'S SORRY <\/span><\/p>\n

Supermarket ditches self-service checkouts as shoppers say they take LONGER<\/h3>\n

<\/picture>SAVE UP <\/span><\/p>\n

Bizarre 'hidden' iPhone setting secretly draining your battery – turn it off NOW\u00a0<\/h3>\n

Speaking to Let's Win Pancreatic Cancer, she said: "It\u2019s been more than a year since my diagnosis and it feels good to report that my tumours have shrunk, although the scans still show cancer. <\/p>\n

"I continue living my life as best I can, plugging along, and fitting in some patient advocacy for medical aid-in-dying, in my home state of Virginia, when I can."<\/p>\n

What are the symptoms of pancreatic cancer?<\/h3>\n

Symptoms of pancreatic cancer can include:<\/p>\n