York Hospital Turns it Purple for Pancreatic Cancer

This week York Hospital will join some of the UK’s most famous landmarks in turning its lights purple in honour of the thousands of individuals and families affected by pancreatic cancer each year.

The ‘Turn It Purple’ campaign highlights the fifth deadliest cancer in the UK by turning the UK purple every November, Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.

Backing the campaign is Rachel Fowler whose grandfather-in-law recently died of the illness and was nursed at York Hospital by the Upper Gastrointestinal (GI) Clinical team. 

Rachel, who is a bank healthcare assistant and student nurse at York Hospital, said: “Unfortunately, my husband’s grandfather wasn’t diagnosed in time but the care he received from the hospital and the community team, from the date of diagnosis, was outstanding and we will be eternally grateful.

 “We are delighted that the hospital is lighting up for Pancreatic Awareness Month. Our hope is that joining the campaign and raising awareness will help others recognise the symptoms early and receive a quick diagnosis.  In the future I hope my family and I can support the hospital and pancreatic cancer charities.”

 Eden Galang, Upper GI Nurse Specialist at York Hospital and a member of the team that treated Rachel’s grandfather-in-law, said: "Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate among all major cancers, so early diagnosis is vital to treating the cancer.

 “Lighting the hospital up helps raise discussion and awareness of pancreatic cancer, with the hope of helping people recognise the symptoms and in turn boost GP visits. Every day, more than 1,000 people worldwide will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and an estimated 985 of these will die from the disease. Finding pancreatic cancer early is crucial as it is far more treatable at this early stage, so visiting your doctor could save your life.”

Pancreatic cancer is the UK’s fifth biggest cancer killer and has the lowest survival rate of the ten most common cancers. Unfortunately, 80% of pancreatic cancer patients are diagnosed when the disease is advanced and hard to treat.

You can help yourself and each other by checking out the symptoms at the following link: http://pancreaticcanceraware.org/#symptoms

14 November 2017