Mom, 24, Alleges Docs Refused to Test Her Tumor: 'They Didn't Think Somebody My Age Would Have Pancreatic Cancer'
Kanisha Collins, 24, alleges her doctors didn't test a mass on her pancreas, telling her she was too young for pancreatic cancer
The mom of a toddler was in the midst of planning her wedding when she was told that she had stage four pancreatic cancer that was "incurable"
PEOPLE has reached out to Chesterfield Royal Hospital and Weston Park Hospital for commentA mom who alleges she was told she's too young for pancreatic cancer has been given a bleak, "incurable" diagnosis — and now she's trying to make memories with her toddler and husband before she dies.
Kanisha Collins, 24, sought care at the UK's Chesterfield Royal Hospital in December, she told Daily Mail in an article published on Thursday, June 5. her medical team was communicating with cancer specialists at Weston Park Hospital, and the consensus was that she had pancreatitis — an inflammation of the pancreas that can cause nausea, vomiting, and stomach pain.
PEOPLE has reached out to Chesterfield Royal Hospital and Weston Park Hospital for comment. A representative for the hospital told The Daily Mail that internal reviews are "already underway."
Kanisha told the outlet that this past February, May 30, a scan showed a mass on her pancreas and a blood clot, but her medical team still said she had pancreatitis. 'They wouldn't test the mass on my pancreas, because they didn't think somebody my age would have pancreatic cancer,' Kanisha alleged, claiming she was told the mass was 'benign.'
But as she explains, the pain got worse — and she was rushed back to the hospital for more tests; On May 19, she was given the heartbreaking news that she had stage four pancreatic cancer that had spread to her liver and was 'incurable.'
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most devastating cancers because it usually doesn't exhibit symptoms until it's too far advanced for effective treatment. As Pancreatic Cancer Action Network explains, even when it's discovered only in the pancreas, the five-year survival rate is 44%. For all types of pancreatic cancer, including if it has spread, the five-year survival rate is 13%.
'I felt discriminated against because I was so young,' Kanisha told the outlet. She'd been in the midst of planning her wedding and celebrating her daughter Amaya's second birthday, but now she says "I feel heartbroken.'
'I have a 2-year-old daughter at home," she said. "I get married on Saturday and I had all that to look forward to in the future.'
Her father, Dean, has started a GoFundMe to support Amaya in the future and help Kanisha and her husband Mason build memories — all while paying for cancer treatment. 'I'm on chemo. I'm tired, so it's hard, but I suppose I've got to look for the positive side, that the chemo will shrink enough to give me many years down the line,' she said.
'We're all staying positive about it and hoping that treatment will shrink my tumors enough to give me a few years.' But as Dean bleakly wrote in the GoFundMe, "Amaya will grow up without her mummy by her side through her childhood, teenage years, and adult life. The pain of this loss is unimaginable for our family."
As Dean told Daily Mail, 'My aim now is to bring further awareness out there, with regards to cancer, because there's loads of people out there who have experienced it … people just don't seem to be wanting to to push it further forward, to do further tests, purely because she was young.'
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