{"id":504770,"date":"2026-05-27T07:37:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T07:37:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/504770\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T07:37:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T07:37:21","slug":"my-wife-beat-breast-cancer-at-36-but-she-died-from-pancreatic-cancer-20-years-later-she-thought-she-had-indigestion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/504770\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018My wife beat breast cancer at 36 but she died from pancreatic cancer 20 years later \u2013 she thought she had indigestion\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The husband of a woman who beat breast cancer at 36 and was later diagnosed with deadly pancreatic cancer at 54 said his wife thought her initial symptom was just \u201csimple indigestion\u201d before the latter diagnosis.<\/p>\n

Jason Venkatasamy, 59, a graphic designer living in London, said his wife, Lucy Driver, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 within six weeks after noticing \u201coozing on the nipple\u201d, before she had an operation to remove her left breast.<\/p>\n

She underwent chemotherapy and Jason said her recovery was \u201cpretty good\u201d, so she was in remission within a year.<\/p>\n

\"Lucy<\/p>\n

Lucy died of pancreatic cancer at 57 (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

Over the next 15 years, Jason said Lucy had no further major \u201cmedical issues\u201d, except for some mild intermittent indigestion problems that she \u201calways used to have\u201d.<\/p>\n

But by March 2022, Jason said Lucy \u201cdidn\u2019t want to eat anything acidic\u201d, she \u201cstruggled\u201d on a big hike they went on for her 54th birthday, and she generally just \u201cdidn\u2019t feel good\u201d.<\/p>\n

Jason said he thought it might be pancreatitis \u2013 inflammation of the pancreas \u2013 but within three weeks, Lucy saw her doctor for a blood test before she received a call urging her to \u201cget to A&E as soon as possible\u201d.<\/p>\n

Still assuming it was not serious, Lucy went to the hospital the following morning while Jason caught the train to work that day, as normal.<\/p>\n

\"Jason<\/p>\n

Jason initially thought his wife might have had pancreatitis (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

Jason told PA Real Life what happened next: \u201cLucy phoned and she said, \u2018I\u2019ve got some news for you. It\u2019s pancreatic cancer\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then she passed me on to the doctor. Once I got off the phone, I just burst into tears on the carriage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew we were gonna have one hell of a battle on our hands, even though I didn\u2019t know anything about pancreatic cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the start of a very hard four years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lucy<\/p>\n

Lucy lived in Paris for over a decade (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

Jason met his Yorkshire-born wife at a pub in Richmond on New Year\u2019s Eve in 2001 and they exchanged email addresses.<\/p>\n

They sent each other emails in the months after, before Jason travelled to France \u2013 where Lucy had been living for over a decade \u2013 for their first date in March 2002.<\/p>\n

For a year afterwards, Jason said he spent \u201cat least four or five days every month\u201d in Paris with Lucy before she moved back to London in early 2003.<\/p>\n

\"Lucy<\/p>\n

Lucy\u2019s initial breast cancer symptom was \u2018oozing of the nipple\u2019 (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

By the time Lucy was 36 in 2005, Jason said she started experiencing \u201coozing\u201d on her left nipple, which led to her breast cancer diagnosis within six weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was quite quick,\u201d Jason said, \u201cFrom going through tests and scans, seeing the doctor\u2026 and having an operation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason said Lucy\u2019s operation was a success and she underwent chemotherapy \u201cas an insurance\u201d, which he described as \u201cawful, but she got through it\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Lucy<\/p>\n

Lucy got the all-clear from breast cancer at 37 (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

Within a year after the surgery, Jason said Lucy was in remission, but she \u201cwent back every year\u201d for check-ups.<\/p>\n

The pair got engaged in late spring 2006 and then married on September 20, 2007.<\/p>\n

In the years since, Jason said: \u201cWe were just a normal couple really, going about our lives and working hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason cannot recall when Lucy\u2019s indigestion problems first started, but remarked she \u201calways seemed to have\u201d it intermittently in the years after receiving the all-clear from her breast cancer diagnosis.<\/p>\n

\"Jason<\/p>\n

Jason and Lucy lived a \u2018normal\u2019 life after her breast cancer diagnosis (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cIt always makes me think back now if that was a continuous symptom of cancer rearing its ugly head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason said Lucy\u2019s symptoms intensified around her 54th birthday on March 30, 2022, when she developed an aversion to acidic foods, she struggled with a Seven Sisters hike they did together, and she generally \u201cdidn\u2019t feel good\u201d.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI never thought it would be cancer. It didn\u2019t even enter my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lucy<\/p>\n

Lucy on a beach in Thailand before her pancreatic cancer diagnosis (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

Three weeks after her birthday, Lucy went to her GP for blood tests, resulting in a phone call urging her to go to A&E as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe both still thought it wasn\u2019t cancer,\u201d Jason said. \u201cWe just thought it was some sort of pancreatitis or something that could be solved.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next morning, in April 2022, Lucy found out she had stage 2 pancreatic cancer, aged 54.<\/p>\n

\"Lucy<\/p>\n

Lucy got her breast cancer diagnosis within six weeks (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

The pair had a follow-up consultation with a private specialist, who Jason said gave them the \u201cbad news\u201d that the cancer was \u201ctoo big\u201d and Lucy would need to have chemotherapy to shrink it.<\/p>\n

Jason said: \u201cWhen she left the consulting room, she just reduced in size.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then she was so upset because she knew what chemo was going to be like, so that really hit her hard,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\"Lucy<\/p>\n

Lucy as a child (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

Jason said Lucy\u2019s \u201creally strong\u201d cancer treatment from November 2022 saw her develop painful ulcers in her mouth that made eating difficult, causing her to \u201close about a stone and a half\u201d.<\/p>\n

Her tumour was removed in May 2023 during a 12-hour operation and Jason said the pair were \u201chappy and relieved\u201d to hear it was successful, before she underwent radiotherapy and more chemotherapy after finding a further \u201cmass in the liver\u201d.<\/p>\n

In March 2024, Jason said the couple were \u201csurprised\u201d to hear that \u201ceverything\u2019s cleared\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Lucy<\/p>\n

Lucy climbed the Alps (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

Jason said: \u201cWe thought we\u2019d dodged a bullet, as it\u2019s very rare to get past pancreatic cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the charity Pancreatic Cancer Action, 50% of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer will die within three months, and 93% will die within five years.<\/p>\n

Life returned to normal for Lucy \u2013 her hair grew back and she started gaining weight \u2013 but by Christmas that same year, she began experiencing indigestion symptoms again.<\/p>\n

\"Lucy<\/p>\n

Lucy undergoing chemotherapy treatment (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

Within weeks, a follow-up scan confirmed Lucy\u2019s cancer had returned and had spread to her liver again.<\/p>\n

Lucy went through more radiotherapy and then chemotherapy, but Jason said his wife\u2019s \u201cbody just couldn\u2019t really take that much\u201d more of it by mid-2025, so she decided to stop treatment in September.<\/p>\n

She began palliative care from October via local district nurses who Jason said \u201ccame around once a week\u201d, before her health deteriorated by the end of 2025.<\/p>\n

\"Lucy<\/p>\n

Lucy died at the age of 57 (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

On January 3, 2026, Lucy died, aged 57.<\/p>\n

Jason remembered: \u201cShe was very active in her bed and couldn\u2019t get comfortable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember thinking I should keep her hydrated so I went to the kitchen to get some water.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think she waited for me to get back to the bedroom, and then that\u2019s when she passed away.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a shock because she deteriorated that morning very, very quickly,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\"Jason<\/p>\n

Jason is walking the Camino de Santiago in memory of Lucy (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/p>\n

In the aftermath of his wife\u2019s death, Jason said Lucy\u2019s workplace raised \u00a36,000 in her memory and he wanted to do something of his own to \u201cmark Lucy\u2019s life in some form\u201d.<\/p>\n

So Jason is undertaking a 34-day walk over 800 kilometres via Spain\u2019s Camino de Santiago this August to raise money for Pancreatic Cancer Action.<\/p>\n

Jason said: \u201cI really want to warn people that pancreatic cancer is pretty much a death sentence.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if you\u2019re lucky enough to notice the early symptoms of indigestion or jaundice and react to it straight away, then you\u2019ve got a fighting chance,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

For more information about Pancreatic Cancer Action, visit their website here: https:\/\/pancreaticcanceraction.org\/<\/a>. And to donate to Jason\u2019s JustGiving fundraiser, visit his page here: https:\/\/www.justgiving.com\/page\/jason-venkatasamy-camino<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The husband of a woman who beat breast cancer at 36 and was later diagnosed with deadly pancreatic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":504771,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[78],"tags":[4139,47976,4144,18,135,19,17,37082,219244,47376,219245,12023],"class_list":["post-504770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-breast-cancer","tag-cancer-diagnosis","tag-chemotherapy","tag-eire","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jason","tag-jason-venkatasamy","tag-lucy","tag-lucy-driver","tag-pancreatic-cancer"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116645401461043994","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=504770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/504771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=504770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=504770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=504770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}