Pamela Deasy | Trusting Her Gut: A Pancreatic Cancer Survivor Story #171

Pamela Deasy was in her early 40s, working full time and volunteering with the RNLI, when fatigue started dragging her back into bed in the middle of the day. Her bloods were clear. She was told it was perimenopause, then depression. Months passed before a kinesiologist, of all people, pointed at her pancreas — and within days she was in a Cork hospital being told she had a tumour.

In this episode, Pamela sits down with Laura to walk through what happened next: the chemotherapy that made her legs turn to jelly, the five and a half weeks of daily radiotherapy that put her on her back in hospital, and the Whipple surgery that took out the head of her pancreas, part of her stomach, part of her intestine, her gallbladder and her spleen. Then the slower, quieter battle that came after — the seven and a half stone she lost, the survivor guilt nobody warned her about, the Survive and Thrive programme that helped her step back into the world, and the small camping toilet she now keeps in her car because that is the honest reality of life after Whipple surgery.

Pamela also shares why she co-founded Pancreatic Cancer Ireland, what the signs of pancreatic cancer actually look like, and why "listen to your gut and keep going back" might be the most important sentence you hear this week.

🔑 Key Points

• Why fatigue was Pamela's only consistent symptom — and how easy it was to put down to a busy life, perimenopause and then depression
• The signs of pancreatic cancer worth knowing: persistent tiredness, pain in the tummy that radiates to the back, floaty stools, dark urine, jaundice, an itch with no rash, new pre-diabetes
• What Whipple surgery actually involves, and why it is described as life-saving but life-altering
• The realities of life after a rewired digestive system, from packing a change of clothes to always knowing where the toilet is
• The chemotherapy side effects that have lingered for years — neuropathy, Raynaud's, cold intolerance
• Survivor guilt, the drop-off in support after the "all clear", and finding her way back through the Survive and Thrive programme
• Why pancreatic cancer is projected to be the second leading cause of cancer-related death by 2030
• Pamela's everyday philosophy: advocate for yourself, listen to your gut, and treasure the ordinary days

📚 Resources

Pancreatic Cancer Ireland

Survive and Thrive

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 — Welcome

00:27 — Blackrock Health Women's Health Centre

01:34 — Introducing Pamela and trusting your gut

02:13 — 2018: fatigue, busy work and the RNLI

03:04 — Going back to the GP again and again

05:01 — A kidney scan and "the good news is there's no cancer"

06:00 — Being told she might be depressed

06:16 — A kinesiologist who pointed at her pancreas

07:17 — Jaundice and the alarm bell

08:51 — Friday 7th December: into hospital in Cork

09:22 — "You have a tumour in your pancreas"

12:02 — What Whipple surgery actually is

13:00 — Six rounds of chemotherapy

13:30 — Side effects: falling, neuropathy, Raynaud's

17:48 — Radiotherapy, gemcitabine and six weeks in hospital

21:51 — Whipple surgery on 15 August 2019

23:20 — What was removed during Whipple

24:17 — Losing seven and a half stone and severe cachexia

26:14 — Ascites and the slow road back

29:48 — From patient to survivor

30:23 — Survivor guilt and finding therapy

31:11 — The Survive and Thrive programme

31:38 — Life after a rewired digestive system

34:55 — Pancreatic cancer statistics in Ireland

36:00 — The signs and symptoms worth knowing

42:00 — Setting up Pancreatic Cancer Ireland

47:58 — Where to find Pamela

49:25 — Advice for younger people, and the meaning of life

51:38 — Blackrock Health Women's Health Centre

Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.

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