Danielle Ozolins never felt very comfortable asking for help.
A terminal pancreatic cancer diagnosis has certainly changed her perspective on this.
The 49-year-old Sydney mum now feels more loved and supported than ever before after being told she had just months to live.
Danielle and Greg Ozolins. (Supplied)Ozolins told 9news.com.au her life-changing diagnosis began with a “dull ache” in her side.
She initially ignored the symptom.
After all, her job in marketing was incredibly busy and she had a family to look after.
Six months later, the ache returned.
“Then over the weeks, it got a bit worse, and I was like, ‘OK, I’ve got to go to the doctor’,” Ozolins said.
“I woke up yellow with jaundice.
“So I got sent straight to emergency and went to the public hospital and it turned out that it was a blocked bile duct.”
A routine day surgery to have her gallbladder removed turned into a long day at the hospital and some unwelcome news: it was a tumour and it was cancerous.
Ozolins’ husband Greg has just flown out on a surfing trip on a remote Indonesian island, her mum was away and her daughter was doing her HSC.
The timing couldn’t have been worse – but as Ozolins attested, nobody is ever prepared for cancer.
The Ozolins family. (Supplied)
The chance of surviving it after five years is just 13 per cent.
Ozolins said her story is testament that it’s not just an “old person’s” disease.
“It went zero to one hundred in six months. [Pancreatic cancer] never would even be on my radar that I would get at 48,” she added.
Doctors put her on a “sledgehammer” treatment plan including Whipple surgery, which removed her pancreas, and chemotherapy.
“They put me on the hardest dose. I was literally in bed for six months, just surviving,” Ozolins said.
“It was horrible. But I thought we got it all and it was preventative.”
The first scan after chemotherapy showed the cancer had spread to Ozolins’ lungs.
It was a gut-punch after the torture of cancer treatment.
Her doctor said she had nine to 12 months to live – unless she could be placed on a drug trial.
A stroke of luck and support from her oncology team meant Ozolins could be put on a targeted therapy clinical trial.
“The doctors, for the first time in a while, are happy with my results,” Ozolins said.
“But it will come down to the scan in a few weeks to see if my tumour is shrinking and the trial is working.”
Sadly, restricted trial numbers meant another cancer patient missed out on a spot.
Ozolins said this fact breaks her heart.
It will be a long road ahead but Ozolins and her family have been given the gift of hope.
The 49-year-old Sydney mum is undergoing a drug therapy trial. (Supplied)
“My husband and I have been together since we were 19. We’ve got the most amazing marriage and it’s put a toll on us at times” she said.
“We’ve got an amazing community around us of friends.”
These same friends are rallying behind the Ozolin family as they take part in Remember September, an initiative to raise money and awareness for pancreatic cancer research.
Greg has committed to walking 75km in September for his wife and so many others like her.
She said her diagnosis and fundraising has reconnected her with friends and loved ones.
“I’ve never asked for help for anything in my life, but now people are taking me to appointments because they want to feel like they’re helping and it takes the pressure off my husband and my sister,” Ozolins explained.
“And that took like 10 months for Greg and I to be comfortable with accepting that.”
Ozolins also took the vulnerable step of sharing her cancer experience on social media.
Remarkably, it led to an old friend discovering she had pancreatic cancer, too.
“She privately messaged me and said, ‘I didn’t even think about my pancreas. And I went and got tested and I’ve got pancreatic cancer’,” she said.
The mum-of-two is feeling hopeful and positive.
Her stoic exterior belies her fear – but Ozolins wants to find purpose in her pain.
“If it’s a five-year survival rate, then that’s a win. And then we go from there,” she added.
“I’m hoping my personal story will trigger people to actually put their money where their mouth is.
“Every drip makes a lake and makes this possible.”
