Emily Brown
A 35-year-old mom-of-three sadly died just days after being diagnosed with liver cancer after crucial signs tragically went misunderstood.
Sian Ashcroft, from the UK, received her diagnosis of terminal cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) in January 2024, at which time she was given just months to live.
The diagnosis would have come as a shock to anyone, but Sian's family had little time to wrap their heads around the idea before the mom passed away just 18 days later.
Now her own mom, Sue Dowling, has spoken out about her daughter's story along with the CCA charity AMMF, which has said that sadly Sian's experience isn't that uncommon.
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Sian first learned she had health issues in the spring of 2023, when she tried to donate blood and was told she was anaemic.
She began taking iron tablets to address it, but by August of that year she began to experience a second warning sign - abdominal pain. This is a symptom of cholangiocarcinoma, but the mom initially thought she might have food poisoning.
When the pain refused to subside Sian was referred for tests at the hospital, where she was told she likely had gallstones, but she was later admitted for surgery to insert a stent in her bile duct.
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It wasn't until early November 2023, at a follow-up appointment, that Sian was told she had a lesion on her liver - but she still wasn't given a CCA diagnosis until two months later.
Sue described her daughter's prognosis as an 'incredible shock', telling BBC News: "She had become increasingly poorly, with frequent visits to her GP and time spent in hospital, but her diagnosis came too late to save her.
"Despite this, she remained incredibly positive, she never lost her sense of humour, she was exceptionally brave and, above all, she never stopped thinking about her family."
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AMMF chief executive, Helen Morement, explained that the majority of CCA diagnoses come at a late stage, with only about 21 percent diagnosed while at stage one or two.
"Often, patients don't fit the profile of what many assume a liver cancer patient should look like," Morement explained, adding that 'people are dying because there is a lack of knowledge of what is available'.
She added: "If someone comes to a doctor with these unusual symptoms and they're not clearing up they should run a liver test, which will pick up if there is something wrong."
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.