Newcastle councillor diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer is 'fighting for every day'
A Newcastle councillor who was diagnosed with terminal cancer just three days before his 50th birthday says he is "fighting for every day."
Councillor Jason Smith, who represents the ward of Lemington, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year after falling suddenly ill in March, having previously shown no symptoms.
He is now receiving palliative chemotherapy and is hoping to raise awareness about the disease's poor survival rates.
Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate of all common cancers, with more than half of those diagnosed dying within three months, and the one-year survival rate in the North East is just 25%.
Cllr Smith said: "Before becoming ill, I had none of the symptoms associated with pancreatic cancer. My descent from being fit and healthy to unwell happened in a single afternoon.
"I bought new trainers at lunchtime and by teatime I couldn't go out for that pastime we all enjoy – delivering pre-election newsletters to the ward.
“After 10 days of feeling unwell, I found myself in the A&E. Two CT scans and a day later, I was informed that I had suspected pancreatic cancer.
"A biopsy showed the cancer was aggressive, was in my liver and stomach lining as well as the pancreas, and I would have four to six months to live unless I had palliative chemotherapy. I can't even describe what a gut punch that news was, almost literally."
'Living with pancreatic cancer is a challenge'
Speaking about the diagnosis, Cllr Smith told the chamber at Newcastle City Council: “Not many people speak out about having pancreatic cancer because, quite frankly, half of them don’t live long enough and aren’t well enough to tell the people closest to them never mind make a public announcement.
“I thought I had another decade at work so my first thoughts were not of the cancer but the financial implications for my family. I suspect that is what many people in my position would be focused on.”
The cancer and palliative chemotherapy has left Cllr Smith with extremely low energy, struggling to walk long distances and needing to take strong painkillers to sleep at night.
Yet, he considers himself to be lucky to be among a minority of pancreatic cancer patients able to receive treatment to extend their life. He told the chamber he had been “blessed” with the chance to spend more time with his family – wife Sindi, his children Harry and Emily, and stepchildren Sophia and Damian.
He added: “Living with pancreatic cancer is a challenge but dying from it as suddenly, as half of the people diagnosed do, is nothing short of tragic.
“I am in the 20% that can receive some kind of treatment to extend their life. Of course, I would be luckier if I was in the 10% who might have a cure.
“But I have been blessed with time to be able to sort out financial issues, spend quality time with family, and give my wife and children time to get used to the idea that I won’t be around for much longer, if that is ever possible.
"I cannot imagine how it is for families of people with pancreatic cancer who lose their relative within a few weeks of diagnosis, which seems to happen in so many cases.
“Most important of all, I have given time to find ways to insert myself into the important occasions in my family’s lives that I won't now be there for."
He also expressed hopes that speaking about his condition will encourage more people to seek medical help sooner for their symptoms, which can include stomach pain and itchy skin, and lead to earlier diagnosis of a disease that has also claimed the lives of former councillors Anita Lower and Mike Cookson in recent years.
'Fighting for every day'
“I had always expected that, if I was ever diagnosed with cancer, I would have a chance to fight it," Cllr Smith explained, "with stage four pancreatic cancer, there is no chance of survival because there is no cure.
“But that does not mean I am not fighting for every day I can spend with my family."
He joked: "And, of course, annoy colleagues in this chamber by raising issues on behalf of Lemington ward residents.”
Tracey Mitchell, who now leads the Newcastle Independents group, brought a motion to Wednesday’s meeting calling on the council to help raise awareness of pancreatic cancer and light up the civic centre in purple on 16 November to mark World Pancreatic Cancer Day.
The motion was passed unanimously. Councillors will also write to the health secretary to ask for more urgent attention to be given to cancers with low survival rates and to ask the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board to carry out an audit of their pancreatic cancer work.
Lib Dem councillor Wendy Taylor, an oncologist at the Freeman Hospital, told colleagues that she had seen amazing advances in the diagnosis and treatment of cancers through her career but that very little has changed in pancreatic cancer survival rates since she first qualified as a doctor.
She added that much more awareness was needed about the disease among the general public, the Government and medical professionals.
Pancreatic cancer - what are the symptoms?
According to the NHS, symptoms can include:
The whites of the eyes or skin turning yellow
Having itchy skin, darker pee and paler poo than usual
Loss of appetite or losing weight without try to
Feeling tired or having no energy
A high temperature, or feeling hot or shivery.
Symptoms can also affect digestion, including feeling sick, diarrhoea or constipation, pain in the top part of the tummy or back, or symptoms of indigestion, such as bloating.
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