Newbury & Thatcham Advertiser 26/11/21

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Friday, November 26, 2021

Newbury & Thatcham Advertiser

NEWS

‘Early diagnosis saved my life’ Mother recovers after emergency operation to remove tumour on her pancreas

By NIKI HINMAN niki.hinman@newburynews.co.uk @newburytoday

and hoped it was just a growth,” she said. “It was scary because in myself I felt fine.The jaun- dice had become unbearably itchy, but I thought it was al- lergies from the pollen.” She was referred to the Churchill Hospital. Lucki- ly, they were able to operate and she underwent an emer- gency procedure to remove the tumour. She said: “I had an eight- hour operation and, despite being wired up to drips and goodness what else, I was back up on my feet the fol- lowing day after surgery. “I can’t express how grateful I feel to be alive. I was amazed by the speed and amount of planning that went on behind the scenes to get me into surgery. “I feel so very fortunate to be one of the very few people to receive an early diagnosis and able to have surgery for pancreatic cancer. “I now want to encourage as many people as possible to get help or advice if they are worried about pain in the stomach coupled with continual acid reflux.” A spokesman for Pancre- atic Cancer UK said: “This case really stresses the im- portance of early diagnosis.” Mrs French is now rais- ing money for the charity as part of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. Visit her fundraising page at https:// bit.ly/2ZRp45v For advice about pancre- atic cancer, contact the free support line 0808 801 0707.

Tanya dances off with leading award Tanya Allen with her award UK and beyond.

HELEN French, 60, was told the acid reflux she was experiencing was ‘probably gallstones and nothing sinister’ when she visited her doctor ear- lier this year. The mother-of-two, who lives in Manor Park, New- bury, said her symptoms were only taken seriously by her surgery after she started presenting with jaundice, which caused her skin and eyes to turn yellow. She underwent emer- gency surgery at Oxford’s Churchill Hospital in July to remove her pancreas and the tumour. Pancreatic Cancer UK said Mrs French’s case is ‘exceptionally rare’ as only 10 per cent of people diag- nosed with the deadly dis- ease can be operated on. “I first went to my GP about heartburn, acid reflux and feeling full in April 2021. I was prescribed some medi- cation and told it was prob- ably gallstones and nothing sinister,” she said. Mrs French’s story comes as a poll carried out by the charity found that almost a quarter of people would wait three months or more before going to a GP with symp- toms of the disease. The average survival rate across Europe is just five per cent, with one per cent living for 10 years or more after diagnosis.

THE principal of a Thatcham dance studio netted an honour at the 2021 Dance School of the Year Awards in recognition of her services to the art. Tanya Allen heads the Allenova School of Dancing, a studio that has been teaching children ballet since 1985. The Dance School of the Year Awards were set up by dancer and business figure Anne Walker MBE to promote the art across the THE animal warden team at the Public Protection Partner- ship (PPP) has scooped a gold award from the RSPCA for its stray dog provision. Services for West Berkshire Council, Wokingham Borough Council and Bracknell Forest are provided by a dedicated in- house animal warden team, sup- ported by external out-of-hours partners. The team has scooped the RSP- CA’s Golden Paw Print award, which recognises good practice from local authorities, hous- ing providers and contingency planners in relation to animal

At a ceremony in Exeter on Oc- tober 29, Mrs Allen was present- ed with the International Dance Teachers Association Special Award for Artistic Endeavour. This related to her work with the school, teaching young danc- ers from West Berkshire and else- where. Mrs Allen said: “It was an amaz- ing evening – just like being at the Oscars!”

Helen French (left)

Symptoms include bloat- ing, light stool colour, itch- ing and dark urine. The grandmother-of-two had not told her family about her symptoms, but on her 60th birthday her daughters realised some- thing was wrong when her usually hearty appetite was missing. “My grown-up children had taken me to a fantastic Michelin-star restaurant to celebrate,” the business an- alyst said. “I found I could hardly eat a thing, which made me feel absolutely terrible. I started to feel so unwell, I couldn’t eat the meal and was sick.” Daughter Laura Verney, 30, said: “We were so wor- ried about her. We encour- aged her to go back to the doctors the following week.” Mrs French did go back to her doctor and was waiting for a referral when, a few

weeks later, her skin started to change colour. Mrs Verney had invited the family around to meet her newborn baby when they noticed Mrs French was looking unwell. She said: “At first we thought mum looked well, she was looking slim and tanned, but closer up we re- alised her skin was sallow and the whites of her eyes had turned yellow. We sent her upstairs to call 111.” Mrs French said: “I in- itially thought I had just caught the sun, but as each day went on I become more yellow. I looked like Marge Simpson.” The next day, at the Great Western Hospital in Swin- don, she underwent blood tests and a CT scan, which revealed a mass on her pan- creas. “I didn’t want to believe it was cancer to begin with

Animal wardens strike gold welfare.

Bracknell Forest Council’s exec- utive member for culture, delivery and public protection John Harri- son said: “It is important that this award not only measures the qual- ity of care provided when a stray dog is picked up, but the work that we do in promoting responsible dog ownership, reminding owners to make sure their dog is micro- chipped, tagged and that details are up to date.” For more information on the animal warden provision, visit https://publ icprotectionpart- nership. org .uk/envi ronmen- tal-health/animal-warden/

Be prepared – and help take pressure off NHS LOCAL NHS services in West Berkshire, Woking- ham and Reading have launched a public infor- mation campaign to help reduce pressure on ser- vices over winter.

WE WANT YOUR CAR NOW! PCP CAR LOANS SETTLED AND CASH BACK!! • Contact me to value your car – even if it is still on a PCP or finance agreement. • Your car might be worth more than the finance settlement and I would personally pay you the difference directly. • Thinking of part exchanging your car against a new car? Call me first as I may be able to pay you more for your vehicle. • ALL CARS AND VANS PURCHASED with immediate payment. - Keith Utton, Director

“We will always be there to provide support and help, but would strongly encour- age the public to take the actions highlighted in this campaign to help reduce pressure and ensure every- one is able to access the health and social care sup- port they need.” Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust re- gional director Gerry Craw- ford said: “Many of our services are already under pressure, but we are doing everything we can to make sure help is always there for those who need it most. “There are lots of ways you can help – being pre- pared and knowing where to get the right support ear- ly, whether its advice from your pharmacist for a cold or bug, or self-referring to our Talking Therapies ser- vice for support with your mental health.” As part of the campaign, an online portal has been created with further infor- mation and resources for the public to utilise this win- ter – visit royalberkshire. nhs.uk/winter

The new campaign, sup- ported by Berkshire West CCG, Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust and Berk- shire Healthcare NHS Foun- dation Trust, aims to inform the public on small actions they can take which will help reduce demand on NHS services and help ensure they can access medical sup- port as quickly as possible. Clinical chairman of Berkshire West Clinical Commissioning Group Dr Abid Irfan said: “There is significant pressure on NHS services across Reading, Wokingham and West Berk- shire, whether that is GPs, emergency department or pharmacies. “We are all working to- gether to provide best pos- sible care we can, but by supporting this winter cam- paign you can help your lo- cal NHS services over the next few months.”

West Berkshire Community Hospital The campaign is focused around three key themes: Be prepared – taking steps to avoid needing to access healthcare services such as having a fully-stocked medicine cabinet, treating colds and minor illnesses at home, supporting vulner- able relatives and getting Covid-19 and flu vaccines. Know the right place to go – only use the emergency department in the case of life-threatening emergen- cies. Use NHS 111 Online for any urgent medical queries and self-refer to Talking

Therapies without needing to see a GP. See your GP differently – there are different ways to access your GP, including online and video appoint- ments, as well as face-to-face consultations. Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust chief executive Steve McManus said: “We are already see- ing high levels of demands for our services as we head into winter, with frequently more than 400 people arriv- ing at our emergency de- partment in a single day.

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