His wife wants to shake things up Senior thinks he's just getting old - and dies of cancer
Dave Smith put his symptoms down to his age. A fatal mistake: the Englishman had advanced cancer. He died a few months after the diagnosis.
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- Dave Smith died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 58.
- The Englishman previously thought the symptoms were signs of his advancing age.
- His wife Rachel Smith now urges caution in the event of any warning signs.
He thought his stomach pains and lack of appetite were due to ageing. But the situation of Englishman Dave Smith is dramatic: he is suffering from advanced pancreatic cancer. He died a few months later.
In the early stages of the disease, pancreatic cancer only causes very unspecific symptoms that can easily be misinterpreted. Dave Smith, for example, complained of abdominal pain and problems with bowel movements for several months before he finally consulted a doctor.
"Dave's blasé attitude to his health has cost him his life," his wife Rachel Smith told the Daily Mail. She herself noticed the first changes in her husband two and a half years ago. At first, his bowel movements suddenly stank conspicuously. Over time, Dave also stopped eating his meals.
"Silent killer" is difficult to recognize
The 36-year-old's alarm bells were already ringing at this point. But the doctors put things into perspective: Initial tests ruled out pancreatic cancer. Dave is told that his abdominal pain is a symptom of old age.
Because the symptoms of pancreatic cancer can also indicate other diseases in the digestive tract, diagnosis is difficult. The cancer is therefore also known as the "silent killer" and is often only recognized at an advanced stage.
The symptoms of pancreatic cancer
- According to the University Hospital Zurich, pancreatic cancer often causes hardly any symptoms in the early stages. Specific symptoms often only appear at an advanced stage.
- Classic signs of pancreatic cancer are jaundice, upper abdominal pain and weight loss.
- The growing pancreatic tumor can also impair the production of digestive juices in the pancreas or their drainage into the duodenum. This leads to increased excretion of undigested fat in the stool (so-called fatty stools).
- More advanced tumors can also cause the following symptoms: Loss of appetite, a feeling of pressure in the abdomen, back pain, weight loss, nausea, vomiting, upper abdominal pain and jaundice.
In January, Dave Smith wakes up in the night with pain and thinks he is having a heart attack. His wife Rachel takes him to hospital. Ultrasound examinations, a CT scan and other tests finally confirmed that Dave's pancreas and liver were affected by tumors.
No cure without surgery
The 58-year-old then spent two months in hospital. His condition deteriorated rapidly and he lost a lot of weight. "The cancer literally grew and grew every day," says Rachel Smith to the Daily Mail.
It is already too late for an operation, the stage of the disease is too advanced. Only at an early stage can it be guaranteed that the tumor can be completely removed. The patient's physical condition is also crucial.
Dave Smith rejected chemotherapy when he learned that a cure was not possible. "He said he wanted to die at home with me by his side," Rachel is quoted as saying. At the end of May, Dave Smith finally died in his bed. "I held his hand and said I loved him - it was traumatic, but it was also a relief that he was no longer in pain."
"Take your health seriously"
Rachel Smith hopes that her husband's sad fate will make more people aware of the dangers of supposedly harmless symptoms. "Take your health seriously and stand up for it," is her message.
In Switzerland, around 1,300 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer every year. This corresponds to around three percent of all cancer cases.
