“I want to make a hellish situation as bearable as it can be by trying to take a small amount of that horrendousness away and make it known to that person diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and their relatives that they aren’t facing it alone.”
Vicki has been working for the Trust since April 2020 but 23 years with the NHS. She was awarded with the Outstanding Achievement Award at last year’s Trust Star Awards for her constant dedication and passion in raising awareness of pancreatic cancer and the need for early diagnosis.
She says:
"What I do is more than just a job, and I love it.
I get the privilege to meet some amazing, courageous, and inspiring people, and every day is different.
A good day is successfully supporting a patient and family, it is sharing awareness of pancreatic cancer with the public and with other health professionals. A bad day is delivering the worst news imaginable. And that’s tough. But it’s my job to be there for them and support them through what will most likely be the worst time of their life.
Pancreatic cancer is ruthless. Because its symptoms are so vague it’s a difficult disease to diagnose meaning a shocking quarter of patients die in one month after diagnosis.
My mission is to improve early diagnosis by raising awareness of the disease and its symptoms. Something, I believe, is everybody’s business.
My vision would be to have billboards plastered with the symptoms in every city and town, so everyone sees them, but until we reach that level of exposure November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, and I urge everyone to play their part.
I always dye my hair purple for awareness month and when I’m not organising a cake sale or raffle I take on challenging and painstaking activities like Born Survivor – and trust me, I’m no athlete!
And I have the support of my amazing family too, who, like me, understand how important raising awareness is. My wonderful husband has run half marathons, my super son organised a ‘wear purple day’ during his A levels and my lovely daughter arranged a sponsored silence when she was in Year 4!
Even if you just pull on a pair of purple tights or make some purple-coloured cupcakes for your colleagues, any tiny thing will help raise awareness. And who knows, it may just save yours or a loved one’s life."
If Vicki has inspired you to find out more, visit www.pancreaticcancer.org.uk