Beating the Odds: Barbara’s Triumph Over Pancreatic Cancer

Watch Barbara share her story

When she first went in with pain in her upper abdomen, Barbara Thornton and her doctors were hoping it was just something routine. When the irritation wouldn’t go away over a week later, she knew she had to get answers, so she went in for an endoscopy.

“First endoscopy showed inflamed pancreas,” Barbara says. “Then they said a nodule on my pancreas, then a final test that confirmed their suspicions.”

Barbara was subsequently diagnosed with stage II pancreatic cancer.

“My oldest child, his wedding was two months away. My 60^th birthday was two months away,” she remembers thinking at the time of her diagnosis. “And I’m just thinking… ‘No, I need to stick around.’”

The next few days and weeks were a whirlwind for Barbara, who after an initial visit with her TriHealth oncologist, Dr. Kirubel Tefera, began an aggressive treatment plan right away.

“That was daunting,” Barbara recalls. Her treatment consisted of a hybrid chemotherapy, where she began with 5-6 hours in the infusion center, followed by a 48-hour slow drip chemotherapy that kept working while she was at home through a port.

The ambitious treatment plan paid off almost immediately for Barbara, who found out she was a candidate for a promising removal surgery following her first post-diagnosis scan.

The procedure is called the Whipple, which is a complex surgery to remove pancreatic cancer from the “head” of the pancreas. With only one in five pancreatic cancer patients qualifying as candidates for the Whipple and a 13% survival rate past five years for the cancer she was diagnosed with, Barbara considers herself lucky, despite a frightening incident later on.

Almost exactly two years following her initial diagnosis, a scan revealed that the cancer had spread to a lymph node in her chest, meaning she was now stage IV.

Her care team wasted no time, once again jumping into action. Barbara immediately began immunotherapy, and fortunately she had wonderful results.

“Within three months after that,” Barbara says of her immunotherapy experience, “Clear scans, normal bloodwork.”

Despite her body’s strong response to treatment and her mind’s positive outlook, Barbara is careful not to take anything for granted, especially given the recurrence rate of pancreatic cancer.

“I know the chance of recurrence is very high… 80 percent,” she says. “So it’s almost like a dark cloud over your head.”

Barbara will be getting closely monitored for recurrence by her care team, who she has become very close with over the course of her treatment.

“At my most recent treatment as I was walking out, I said to the nurses sitting at the desk ‘You guys are the real heroes of my story,’” she said before continuing on, “And then Dr. Tefera walked through—I didn’t even have an appointment with him that day—I turned to him and said ‘You’re the real hero in my story, too!’”

Since her clear scans, Barbara has not lost her attitude of gratitude.

“For me to still be here, it has to be for some purpose, and I feel that my purpose is to raise awareness.” Barbara is an advocate with Wage Hope and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, where she participates in events like the Purple Stride Walk and works to inform others of the warning signs and treatments for pancreatic cancer. She also hosts an annual bake sale to benefit pancreatic cancer research.

And through it all, Barbara still continues to count her blessings.

“It means the world to still be here. To have my youngest son get married, to have a grandson and now my daughter’s getting married… that’s the good stuff,” she beams. “Not the diagnosis I was looking for, but I consider it a blessing because of what it has shown me.”

We are moved by the determination and strength Barbara has shown throughout her cancer journey, and wish her nothing but more of the good stuff.