Moray grandmother thanks surgeons for beating one-in-a-million cancer
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A FOCHABERS woman who received a one-in-a-million cancer diagnosis and had all of her non-vital organs removed to fight the disease is fundraising to give back to the hospital who saved her life.
Four years ago, Elizabeth Runcie was diagnosed with bladder cancer and during a routine CT scan for the disease, doctors at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary discovered a second, unrelated cancer called Pseudomyxoma Peritonei in the region of her appendix. The extremely rare and aggressive cancer affects only one or two people per million each year and causes a tumour to grow in the abdomen, which produces a jelly-like mucus. When left untreated Pseudomyxoma Peritonei is lethal, as the substance produced by the tumour will fill the abdomen, strangling the organs and destroying their ability to function.
Because the cancer is so rare, there are no hospitals in Scotland which treat the disease and Elizabeth was sent to the Peritoneal Malligancy Unit at Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital – one of only two specialised units available in the UK. There was previously very little successful treatment available for the disease which actress Audrey Hepburn died of in 1993 but Elizabeth was told that a radical new operation – which would involve removing all of her non-vital organs – would be the only way for her to survive.
Elizabeth (68) said: "This radical operation has only been around for 25 years and it's a massive operation. They remove all of the organs you don't need; I don't have a gall bladder or a spleen, they also removed some of my bowel and liver, along with various other bits and pieces that I didn't even know I had. The operation took around 12 hours and at the end they put heated chemotherapy through your abdominal space and sort of joogle you about on the table to kill of any other cancer cells floating about.
"I was unconscious for more than 24 hours and spent more than a month recovering on the ward in Basingstoke. It took weeks to even be allowed to eat, it was a very long recovery but they did a remarkable job and next Sunday is the four year anniversary of the operation. I consider myself extremely lucky to be here and without the skill of those surgeons I would not be here to see my grandchildren grow up."
Since her operation, the 68-year-old grandmother has become well known in Fochabers for her charity work. The former chocolatier sells handmade truffles each Christmas, with all the proceeds going towards local charities. During the last four years she has raised funds for several local groups including Fochabers in Bloom, the Autumn Club and the local nurses who helped her when she returned to Moray from Basingstoke Hospital.
To mark the four year anniversary of her surgery, Elizabeth is holding a coffee morning on Saturday, March 2 at Bellie Hall in Fochabers from 10am - 12pm. The funds raised from the coffee morning will go towards the hospital where she had her operation and the Pseudomyxoma Survivors charity where Elizabeth now volunteers as a buddy to provide support and a listening ear to people who are facing the disease.
Because of the rarity of the disease, Elizabeth said the charity has been vital in providing advice and support, with her own GP being completely unaware of the condition prior to Elizabeth's diagnosis. She said: "The surgeon in Aberdeen had never seen it before, but I was very lucky that she knew what it was. There were no symptoms and nothing to say I had it, the bladder cancer ended up being a blessing in disguise really because otherwise I never would have known I had it.
"On Saturday there will be a leaflets to raise awareness of the survivors group and a little bit of my story too, I want to show folk that having cancer isn't the end of everything. I'm not looking for sympathy, I want it to be a very positive event – I really am a very lucky woman."
