'Healthy' mom, 35, reveals first subtle sign of cancer that doctors dismissed for months
A mom who was 'the healthiest she'd ever been' all of a sudden started experiencing what doctors told her was gastrointestinal issues.
Amy Skoutelas embarked on a fitness journey following the birth of her third child. She was feeling great and had shed 30 pounds, but in January of this year, this all changed.
After eating dinner one evening, Amy said she got stomach pains that seemed to be trapped gas. However, this discomfort continued and she knew that this 'wasn't [her] norm'.
She ended up in the ER a few days later and bloodwork revealed that Skoutelas had elevated levels of lipase, a digestive enzyme produced by the pancreas.
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Amy then had a CT scan to investigate this further but the scan was seemingly fine and she was advised to follow up with her gastroenterologist.
In the meantime, they sent her home saying she had constipation and advised she increased her fiber and fluid intake. However, Amy's symptoms persisted.
"I was having gas and bloating," the mom-of-three recalled to TODAY, adding: "I kept feeling like I needed to have a bowel movement, but nothing was happening ... I also developed really bad acid reflux."
Amy then started having diarrhea and had a 'gnawing' sensation in her stomach, so she went back to see her gastroenterologist.
They proceeded to do an X-ray on her to see if she had a bowel obstruction but nothing was there. Over the coming months, Amy then had more bloodwork done, an upper endoscopy and a gastric emptying study which also came back normal.
Knowing that something still wasn't right with how she was feeling, she decided to see a new gastroenterologist who ordered that Amy have another MRI. It was this scan that revealed that she had a 1.7-centimeter mass in her pancreas.
A biopsy of the mass then confirmed Amy's worst fear: that it was cancer.
"I just collapsed on the floor," she said of the moment she received the heartbreaking news. " was on the phone with the doctor, like, 'I don't want to die. I have three kids.'"
Amy added that she was in 'complete disbelief'.
She was told that her cancer was Stage 3 and that she needed to start chemo and have surgery as part of her cancer treatment.
In May, Amy had a distal pancreatectomy to remove the tail and body of her pancreas, and her spleen was removed as well.
The surgeon was successfully able to cut out the tumor, along with 35 lymph nodes, seven of which were affected by the cancer.
Amy then started chemo in June, and has just finished her last week of her 10th round.
Fortunately, the treatment seems to be working as a scan done in September found no trace of the disease, and a more recent scan also showed no signs of further spreading.
In light of her experiences, Amy wants others to fight for answers if they feel that something's not quite right.
She said: "Be your own best advocate. If you don’t feel that you’re being heard or seen, get a second opinion. Sometimes you still have to push for answers."
Amy has a fundraiser online, which you can donate to here.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the American Cancer Society on 1-800-227-2345 or via their live chat feature, available 24/7 every day of the year.
Niamh Shackleton