A woman whose mother was experiencing heartburn has issued a warning to others after she died just weeks after a devastating diagnosis.
Gwen Booth started developing indigestion — which can cause a burning sensation in the chest — in December 2014.
Heartburn is caused by stomach acid travelling up toward the throat. It's not usually serious and can be treated with lifestyle changes or antacid medication.
But Gwen, from Sarn, Gwynedd, had been experiencing the symptom because she had pancreatic cancer.
She sadly died at the age of 66 in 2015, just two weeks after receiving her diagnosis.
Her daughter, Kelly Williams, found her mother's diagnosis "completely shocking" and has urged others to be aware of the signs of cancer.
She told the BBC: "I didn't even know what pancreatic cancer was at that time.
"You look back at all the symptoms now and it's there, it's in the pancreatic cancer leaflet.
"If only we'd known about it, maybe it would have helped."
Kelly said her mother had been looking forward to enjoying her retirement when she started experiencing indigestion, tiredness, sickness and "having to run to the loo" toward the end of 2014.
She went to the doctor several times and was treated with heartburn and anti-sickness tablets.
But over the next few months, her health began to deteriorate.
She was finally referred for an ultrasound scan in April 2015, by which time "everything was going through her" and she had started "vomiting and feeling cold".
But the heartbreaking diagnosis came after Gwen took a turn for the worse and was taken to A&E by her family.
Kelly added: "She was so poorly one night that we just begged her, 'please will you just go to A&E?'. She was told by a junior doctor in A&E that she had pancreatic cancer.
"Looking back they should have investigated, because it was just going on and on. It wasn't clearing up."
Since losing her mother, Kelly has raised over £17,000 for pancreatic cancer action by hosting coffee mornings, running the London marathon, and completing two Cardiff half marathons.
Writing about her mother's story for pancreatic cancer action, Kelly said she's now on a mission to prevent other families from having to go through the same pain hers did.
She said: "Mam has gone and that can’t be changed but getting the knowledge and awareness out there could make a huge difference to others and that’s what Mam would have wanted."
Over 10,000 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the UK every year.
According to the NHS, the symptoms can include:
- The whites of your eyes turning yellow (jaundice)
- Loss of appetite or losing weight without trying
- Tiredness
- High temperature or feeling hot or shivery
- Feeling or being sick
Diarrhoea or constipation
Pain in the top part of your tummy and your back
Symptoms of indigestion
Itchy skin, darker pee and paler poo than usual
