Olivia Williams talked about her painful career with pancreatic cancer, revealing that she has experienced years of erroneous diagnostics and dismissals by doctors. The British actress trained by professionals now supports the next charity of the year of the London TCS marathon, Pancreatic Cancer UK, calling for a cheap test that would lead to previous detection of the disease.
Talk to The Times UK In a new interview, The crown Star discussed his experience with Vipoma (secretion tumor of the vasoactive intestinal peptide), a rare neuroendocrine tumor of the pancreas which is detected in 1 of one million people per year. Notoriously difficult to diagnose early, pancreatic cancer is among the deadliest cancers.
Williams said she had felt symptoms for the first time a decade ago, finally embarking on a four -year trip where she visited 10 doctors in three countries to go to the root of her illness. She remembers having been poorly diagnosed with lupus, perimenopause and other forms of cancer. It is only when a gastroenterologist in Los Angeles “who was like a dog with a bone” tested a rare hormone, ordered a computed tomography and a biopsy that the cancer tumor was discovered.
“If someone had diagnosed well for the four years, I said that I was sick, when they told me that I was menopausal or that I had an irritable colon syndrome or (I was) crazy – I used this word advised because a doctor referred to me for a psychiatric assessment – then an operation could perhaps have clarified everything and that I could describe as a cancer, what I could never be eliminated. Describe as cancer, which I can never be “,” Dune: Prophecy According to Star.
Since then, she had several procedures to withdraw the tumor, as well as sections of her pancreas, her spleen, her gallbladder and her liver. However, at this stage, the tumor had metastasized.
“Metastases have continued to appear,” she said. “So we played Whack-A-Mole every time they appear.”
Williams, who is also known for his work in Wes Anderson Rushmore and Mr. Night Shyamalan’s The sixth sensetook medication to limit the growth of cancer cells and undergo routine analyzes. With targeted internal radiotherapy, Williams has described a treatment, including cases where “people in Hazmat combinations come with a head box of radioactive equipment, which they inject in me and I become radioactive”, which forced it to isolate all human contacts for two weeks.
“He is supposed to buy me a year, perhaps two or three years, of freedom of treatment. In the best case, it would have made disappear (metastases), but that did not happen,” she said.
While the actress said it was “too late” for her, she warned those over 40 to stay vigilant with their health, adding: “This is where I become emotional but I am not looking for sympathy, I am looking for a cheap early test.”
