A woman has shared the troubling symptoms she experienced over the course of a year before receiving a devastating stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis.
Cori Quinn Thagard posted a video on TikTok explaining what led to her finding out about the disease, saying she'd been asked about it frequently.
"These are the symptoms that led to my stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis," she said, describing her journey as anything but straightforward.
"It was complex. I had minor symptoms over the course of a year, then I had the really severe symptoms that led me to drive myself to the emergency room," Cori explained.
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Cori's symptoms began when she started experiencing unusually heavy periods
|TIKTOK
She noted that the first signs emerged in spring 2024, when she started experiencing unusually heavy periods.
"So we ran some blood work at my doctor's office, and it showed I was anaemic and low in iron, and so my doctor put me on iron pills," she recalled.
Things took a turn in November 2024 when Cori visited an acupuncturist who suggested Chinese supplements as an alternative to the iron tablets, along with something to help manage her menstrual issues.
After just a week on the supplements, however, she developed intense stomach pain and nausea.
"I was like 'okay I need to get off these supplements,' so I got off of them, and then the symptoms lingered for a week," she explained. Although the discomfort eventually subsided, it wasn't long before new problems emerged.
By mid-December, Cori noticed heartburn and a constant need to belch - which was completely out of character for her.
Her gastroenterologist prescribed medication and suggested the supplements might have triggered something in her digestive system, but her health declined further.
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She said: "My symptoms just kept getting worse. They progressed from acid reflux symptoms into severe abdominal pain after I would eat a large meal."
During the festive period, eating prime rib left her in such agony that she had to lie down afterwards. Soon, she experienced pain after eating "anything" and felt as though her body wasn't processing meals properly.
Despite undergoing both an endoscopy and a colonoscopy, the results came back completely clear, leaving doctors puzzled about what was happening.
With her abdominal pain becoming near-constant, Cori also consulted her OB due to carrying a genetic mutation linked to ovarian and breast cancer.
An ultrasound revealed a burst cyst, which doctors thought might explain her symptoms. Her homoeopathic primary care doctor remained convinced the issue lay with her gut.
"My symptoms got so severe to the point where I had abdominal pain and even back pain. I felt like I wasn't digesting food well," Thagard said.
Doctor's discovered a tumour on Cori's pancreas (stock image)
|TIKTOK
By February, she was losing weight without trying, experiencing chills, and still awaiting stool sample results while her condition deteriorated.
Frustrated that her doctors couldn't find answers, she drove herself to the emergency room. A CT scan finally revealed the devastating truth - a tumour on her pancreas, lesions on her liver, and a mass on a nearby lymph node.
"It was absolutely horrible. It was the worst day of my life," she said.
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