Liv Williams
Published November 30, 2025 3:00pm
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It took over a year of seeking help to get a diagnosis (Picture: Liv Williamson)
As the IV was fitted, I saw the agony leave my husband Nigel’s face for the first time.
Finally, after a year of seeking medical help, I thought maybe we were getting somewhere.
But the next day, we were told Nigel had cancer – they didn’t specify which cancer specifically at that point – and that, because it had been undetected for so long, it had spread everywhere. Even the doctors were alarmed.
The cancer was so advanced, he was put straight on to palliative care.
We had no words; devastation doesn’t cut it. I held Nigel’s hand as I broke down. He remained silent.
I couldn’t think what to say to someone who not only has cancer, but has it everywhere in their body.
‘Oh my god, how am I going to tell the children?’, I thought.
The symptoms started with low back and leg pain (Picture: Liv Williamson)
It all started around early 2023, when Nigel noticed lower back and leg pain. After about a month, he saw his GP and was referred for physio.
We waited months for that appointment, during which time the pain worsened; and to add to his misery, indigestion had also become a problem.
From March to June, Nigel sought medical advice and each time he was sent away, either empty-handed or with medication for pain or indigestion.
Come June, in sheer desperation, we paid for an MRI privately, assuming it would pick up anything nasty. But it was a lumbar spine MRI, because he had pain in his lower back – so it didn’t pick up anything wrong with Nigel’s pancreas.
When we saw the GP next, he mentioned he was glad the MRI didn’t show anything sinister.
‘But what is it then?’, we asked in frustration numerous times; always to be told it would get better on its own.
His quality of life was nonexistent (Picture: Liv Williamson)
In July, I took Nigel to A&E as he couldn’t stand up. His painful leg was getting thinner and thinner, like it was wasting away, and the pain was unbearable.
At A&E, we were told he had a twisted knee after they looked at his MRI and sent him home.
We found out later that the A&E staff had requested blood tests from Nigel’s GP, but we never got the message.
By late summer, Nigel had lost about a stone and a half. He was struggling to eat. He had become so weak that he relied on crutches. We couldn’t sleep in the same bed, as he’d be writhing in pain all night. His quality of life was nonexistent.
Just before Christmas, I demanded a blood test from his GP – but three weeks later, a few days before the scheduled tests, Nigel couldn’t urinate which left him in agony.
I called an ambulance; the ride to A&E was horrendous, and Nigel’s anguish left him unable to sit in the waiting room.
Pancreatic Cancer UK
If you or a loved one has been affected by pancreatic cancer and need support or information, Pancreatic Cancer UK run the only specialist support line for the disease, staffed by specialist nurses, who are here for you at Pancreatic Cancer.org.
We had no choice but to leave and try for A&E again another time; he wasn’t able to sit on a chair, and he begged me to take him home.
The following day, Nigel was so poorly, he was just lying in bed – but I knew we had to get him back to the hospital.
A couple of days later, our daughter came back from university to help me wrap her dad in duvets and gently put him in the car so we could go back to A&E.
He screamed with pain on the way.
Thankfully, this time, a nurse immediately saw how unwell Nigel was. She organised a bed in the corridor – it was the most relief I had felt in months. Then he had an IV fitted, and it did feel like we were getting somewhere.
Tragically, any hope or relief I felt was stolen the next day.
Nigel wasn’t ready for people to know he had cancer, but I had to tell people before it was too late.
Our youngest was just 14 at the time, far too young to be losing a parent (Picture: Liv Williamson)
The kids were so brave, but telling them was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Our youngest was just 14 at the time, far too young to be losing a parent.
The following day, we all huddled around Nigel’s bed with a takeaway and watched a film on a portable DVD player. It was the last time we did something as a family.
On 9th February 2024, just 12 days after we were told it was cancer, Nigel died, aged 61, with me and our three children by his side.
I burst into tears. ‘I’m not ready! There are still so many things I want to ask you’, I cried – but he was gone.
I was only told it was pancreatic cancer specifically a week after he died. I looked up the disease and the lack of progress in survival shocked me. Learning that no early detection tools exist to help doctors detect it compelled me to do something.
Comment now Have you or a loved one been affected by pancreatic cancer? Share belowComment NowSharing Nigel’s experience during Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month felt like a good start, especially because Pancreatic Cancer UK are currently investing in a clinical trial for a new breath test for pancreatic cancer.
The test works by detecting certain compounds in the breath; people with pancreatic cancer have different types of these compounds that could potentially be found early on, helping with early diagnoses.
Nigel saw a healthcare professional 24 times and even then, we didn’t know it was pancreatic cancer. If something like the breath test had been available, maybe Nigel could have had treatment to give him more time with us.
As it was, his last year was horrific. The signs were there, but Nigel’s pain was written off. His weight loss and indigestion weren’t seriously considered.
Nigel would be so proud, and grateful that we are raising awareness on his behalf (Picture: Liv Williamson)
Life without Nigel has been extremely tough for all of us. I still can’t believe this really happened.
The worst thing is looking back and remembering the pain he was in.
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We talk about Nigel all the time; ‘Dad would have liked this’ or ‘Dad would have found that so funny’.
The way the children have handled this has been admirable. Nigel would be so proud, and grateful that we are raising awareness on his behalf.
Our youngest hopes that, by sharing his dad’s story, it will stop other kids from losing their parents to this disease. I hope so too. It’s important to familiarise yourself with the symptoms and push for answers when things don’t feel right.
The significance of early detection is clear, not just for survival but for quality time with your loved one following a diagnosis – when they still feel well enough to enjoy it.
Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
Share your views in the comments below.
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