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The Dayton Daily News Life section on Thursdays brings you uplifting human interest news.
Though pancreatic cancer is a particularly deadly form of the disease, affecting nearly 44,000 people annually and killing more than 38,000 of those, not all diagnoses of this disease mean a death sentence.
For Sophia Swann of Springboro an early diagnosis, coupled with swift effective treatment, made all the difference in the quality of life she has today. Swann was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer about two years ago after struggling with severe pain that was initially attributed to pancreatitis, a chronic condition from which she suffered for four years.
“I was in and out of the hospital three or four times and the doctors always asked me about my drinking habits, but I’m purely a social drinker so I knew it wasn’t that,” Swann said. She also knew she was having severe pain episodes that would last for 45 minutes and then go away. When her doctor advised testing for pancreatic cancer, she was shocked. “I never expected to hear it might be cancer,” she said. “The next day when three doctors walked in my room, I knew I was in trouble.”
Swann’s diagnosis of stage 1 pancreatic cancer might have been a death sentence had it been discovered just one year later. This rare form of cancer has the highest mortality rate of all forms of cancer and is the 4th leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the nation. “I worked in the medical field for 22 years,” Swann said. “I knew about pancreatic cancer and in my entire career, I never knew anyone to survive this cancer. If you had it, you died.”
After several additional tests, Swann and her husband, John, agreed she needed to get a second opinion. “I cried myself to sleep every night for two weeks,” Swann said. “We had just moved into our beautiful new retirement home and had it decorated just the way we wanted it and I couldn’t believe it was happening to me now.”
Swann went to see Dr. Syed Ahmed, Associate Director for Clinical Research at the University of Cincinnati Cancer Institute. “Sophia is a wonderful lady who came to me with a large cyst that was in a pre-malignant stage,” Ahmed said. “I told her I was confident I could help her with surgery.”
Though initially Swann said she had intended to seek other opinions as well, she said she felt “safe” with Ahmed and immediately bonded with him. “I can’t tell you how helpless I felt and he made me feel better immediately,” she said.
She underwent the Whipple Procedure in March of 2011, an operation to remove cancer in the head of the pancreas and resection the bile ducts, the small intestine and the stomach. “It was a brutal surgery,” Swann said. “I spent 12 days in intensive care and was in severe pain in recovery.”
And though her recovery went well for the first nine months post-surgery, she started to have severe abdominal pain and chills and had another surgery in May of 2012 for internal bleeding related to her pancreas and gall bladder.
“My husband and my sister were with me every day during recovery and I had a wonderful support system,” Swann said.
Today, Swann, at the age of 71, has fully recovered and thanks to a positive attitude and healthy lifestyle, is living pain free. “I am very proactive now and eat a very low-fat diet that is high in fiber,” Swann said. “I walk at least 3-4 miles a day and still socialize with my friends. I enjoy time with my three granddaughters and my sons. I feel humbled because not only did I survive a cancer that so many do not, but I feel and look healthy and I’m able to perform so many of the normal day to day activities. I feel I have been more blessed because I’m as healthy as anyone could ever wish to be and I get up every morning happy to be here!”
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