My name is Olivia Watson. I am 23, part of a family of six and from the Dromara, Hillsborough area of NI.
I graduated this year in Professional Adult Nursing and currently work as a Critical Care Nurse. My mum Jen is a Mid-Wife and brother Rob is also a Nurse; so caring roles seem to run in the family.
I have a close tie with NIPANC through a family connection with the Harrower family. My mum is best friends with #PedalThePeriphery’s Andrea Harrower who lost her husband Paddy to pancreatic cancer. I also know their two boys, Fraser, and Alex well.
Andrea and Paddy were like second parents to me. Sadly, pancreatic cancer entered this family in 2022 and claimed Paddy’s life. Until this time, I had honestly hardly even heard of pancreatic cancer, and I had never heard of NIPANC.
Since losing Paddy, I have become heavily involved with the charity through fundraising and research efforts. This has shaped my understanding of pancreatic cancer greatly and has enabled me to engage with so many incredible people who have been affected by this cruel disease in one way or another.
Meeting them and hearing their stories, planted a seed in me that this was a mission I simply had to do something about.
My PhD study will focus on the diagnostic experiences of those facing a pancreatic cancer journey in NI. I have many areas of interest, and it has been a challenge to narrow them down, but I’m also fascinated by the discrepancies between pancreatic cancer care and statistics across different parts of the world. This provides opportunity to learn from each other to improve outcomes.
I think my time as a student nurse also highlighted a more general lack of awareness around pancreatic cancer. I feel more could be done educationally among student nurses, pharmacists, and medics. This area has the potential to create great impact.
I’m very much looking forward to starting my PhD in January 2025.
Ultimately, I want my work to help improve pancreatic cancer patient outcomes by advocating for earlier diagnosis and better treatment options. Of course, this is a very big goal. It will be something I will work towards gradually. Studying the current diagnostic experiences of those with pancreatic cancer will allow me to discover gaps and areas for improvement within the process.
To give more of a sense about my background, I left sixth form in 2020 and worked full time as a community carer for a year before beginning an undergraduate degree in Professional Adult Nursing.
As I’ve said, I graduated this year and am currently working as a Critical Care nurse. Throughout my degree, I was very involved with research projects within the school of Nursing and Midwifery at QUB. I had an interest in more formal research and was approached by a mentor within the school at the beginning of this year when a PhD opportunity came up.
It was probably earlier than I had planned to return to education, but I had a strong sense this was what I was meant to be doing. I applied for this NIPANC PhD and was successful, confirming I was on the right path.
Throughout my nursing training, and since qualifying as a nurse, I have encountered multiple individuals living with a pancreatic cancer diagnosis.
Sadly, as it far too common, my involvement with these wonderful people has usually come far too late when they present to emergency departments with symptoms that lead to a diagnosis of end stage pancreatic cancer.
I firmly believe, this is not how things should be. People deserve so much better. They deserve hope and a chance to fight.
The time I have spent with these incredible individuals, and their families, has been an enormous privilege and has spurred me on to carry out my research. I have been so greatly impacted by their stories and experiences; I feel I simply cannot ignore this pull to do something about it.
It aligns me with NIPANC’s mission to improve earlier diagnosis, better treatment options and ultimately better outcomes for patients and their families coping with this devastating disease.
Seeing what pancreatic cancer does to a person, their family, the community that surrounds them, and anyone that looks after them really makes me understand the need for this kind of research.
With the shared expertise of NIPANC and QUB collaborating on projects like this, we could truly change lives.
Growing up I always wanted to be a nurse and, when asked 'why?' I only ever had one answer.
“I want to have the ability to come alongside people on the very worst days of their lives and make those days even a tiny bit better.”
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