Doctors said my symptoms pointed to low iron but it was actually brutal pancreatic cancer

A mother-of-two has revealed the series of medical failings that led to her deadly pancreatic cancer being missed for a year.

Yinka Sowemimo-Coker, 65, first saw a doctor in early 2018 after suffering a little-known red flag of the disease; profusely sweating after climbing flights of stairs. 

But it took another 12 months - and three visits to hospital doctors - before her disease would finally be spotted, at which point her chance of survival was roughly three per cent. 

'I felt unseen. I felt unheard,' she said. 'Sometimes I was even thinking, am I sure there's something wrong with me? I started to second guess myself.'

The first dismissal came in 2018 when she was admitted to hospital suffering agonising back pain, which started a few days after the excessive sweating. 

'I knew I wasn't feeling fine, but I couldn't pinpoint exactly what was wrong with me,' says Ms Sowemimo-Coker, who added that the pain was so severe it radiated towards her stomach.

At the hospital doctors diagnosed iron deficient anaemia and discharged her two days later. 

Eight months later she was admitted to hospital again with the same symptoms, but this time doctors suspected a liver infection. 

She was discharged again shortly after her admission, but returned again in January 2019 with a dangerously high fever.

By this point Ms Sowemimo-Coker had dropped an astonishing six dress sizes - from a size 20 to a very slight six - and her skin was turning yellow due to jaundice. 

She'd become so physically weak that she could no longer walk. 

She was treated with paracetamol and was once again sent home and told to come back the following day for a blood transfusion. 

But, after a friend urged her to seek a second opinion, she returned to hospital where she remained for the following three weeks.  

Finally, a barrage of tests uncovered a tumour on her pancreas and she was told the chances of her surviving the year were slim to none.

Dubbed the 'silent killer', pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of the disease. Just one in four patients live more than a year. 

It is typically diagnosed at a late stage, when treatment is difficult, because it causes few symptoms early on.

Ms Sowemimo-Coker underwent surgery on February 14, 2019, whereby doctors used a new technique called irreversible electroporation which involves removing tissue to destroy cancerous cells. 

She was awoken by doctors telling her she was incredibly 'lucky' to have caught it when she did. Any later, surgery would have been impossible. 

After six months of chemotherapy, at the end of 2019, she was told she was in remission. 

Remarkably, seven years after her diagnosis she remains in good health, with her most recent scans showing no signs of cancer.

Around 93 per cent of pancreatic cancer patients will die from the disease within five years of diagnosis, according to Pancreatic Cancer UK. 

Ms Sowemimo-Coker now attends two check-ups every year to monitor her progress.

'For now all I can do is pray and remain positive,' she says. 'I am so grateful that I am still here to tell my story.' 

She has since set up her own charity - DChanger - to support people going through their own cancer journey, working closely with Pancreatic Cancer UK.

'Access to clinical trials is appallingly low for pancreatic cancer and is denying too many people the possibility of more precious time with their loved ones,' Dina Jupp, the charity's chief executive, said. 

The disease is one of the most brutal cancers, made all the more so by the fact that doctors still don't know what causes most cases. 

And cases are on the rise, with diagnoses in the UK increasing by around a fifth since the 1990s, with women under 55 driving the trend. 

Smoking, being overweight and eating red meat have all been linked with an increased risk.

Common symptoms include unexplained weight loss, back pain that feels as though it has travelled from the front of the body, fatigue, sudden onset diabetes and unusual changes in bowel movements. 

While back pain and sweating are extremely common, if they occur alongside any one of these symptoms and persists the NHS recommends contacting a GP.