Pancreatic cancer survivor hits milestone, plans next races

Ever since being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January 2013,Sindy Hooper has been planning her future in six-month incrementspunctuated by CT scans tocheck for recurrence.

Her latest scan last week showed no sign of cancer. Andthis one is extra special, coming as it does just weeks before the five-year anniversary of her diagnosis an anniversary reached by only about seven per centof pancreatic cancer patients in Canada, according to the Canadian Cancer Society. About half of patients in Canada die within a year.

"It's just really unbelievable," said Hooper, 54,listing "ecstatic, happy, relieved, thankful" among the adjectives to describe how she's feeling.

With each year a pancreatic cancer patient survives after diagnosis, the outlook for surviving another five years improves,according to a 2017 report from the society. After five years,the probability of living five moreincreases to83.4 per cent, according to the report.

Hooper said she has no idea why she's been so lucky. Shehada very healthy lifestyle both before and after diagnosis, she said, but that's also been true of other patientsshe's met who died very soon after diagnosis.

Endurance races a big part of unusual cancer journey

Hooper's cancer journey has been exceptional in many ways, beginning with the fact she qualified for a surgical treatment. It's called the Whipple procedure, andinvolved the removal ofportions of her pancreas, stomach and small intestine as well as her entire gallbladder.

Chemotherapy and radiation followed that surgery. During chemotherapy she travelled to Whistler, B.C. to complete an Ironmantriathlon 225 kilometres of swimming, cycling and running.

• Cancer patient on chemo finishes Ironman Triathlon in B.C.

Hooper didn't stop there. In addition to running with a teamto raise money for the Ottawa Hospital during the annual Ottawa Race Weekend, she did anotherIronmanrace last August in Vichy, France.

While she was disappointed not to qualify for the Ironman world championship in Hawaii, Hooperquickly began training for her next athletic adventure, a half Ironman in Arizona in October.

At that race she placed third in her age group whileher husband Jon Hooper placed fifth, which qualified them both for the next half Ironman world championshipin Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa.

"We both put our heart and soulinto that race," Hooper said. "For both of us to qualify there together was really special."

The championship is in September 2018, a few months outside Hooper'susual six month planning window. Before that, she'll spend her 55th birthday in December running a marathon in Arizona, where she hopes to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

'Keep living life to the fullest'

While Hooper is celebrating her recent clear scan and her upcoming adventures, dark thoughts of the return of cancer do sometimesintrude.

"It always seems to be at night. You wake up in the middle of the night and start thinking about it," Hooper said. "And it feels horrible when I think about ' Wow, what if this is my next only six months? It's a huge possibility and it is very scary."

Hooper is mindful of the fact that having survived five years is no guarantee she'll beat the disease in the long run.

When shewas first diagnosed, Hooper scoured the Internet in search of survivor stories, and eventually learned of a man who had survived five years with the disease and written a book about it.

That story gave her a great deal of hope at the time, but a few months ago, Hooper discovered the man died shortly after hisbook was published.

"While I'm extremely happy that I've made it to five years, I'm not taking that for granted, and I'm not thinking this means I'm good now," Hooper said. "I'm going to just keep living life to the fullest and plan like heck out of the next six months."

'It feels good to be able to give people hope'

Often, she hears from other peoplewho have been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, most of whom aren't able to be treated with surgery and who die quickly.

"It's very hard to keep seeing that over and over and over again," Hooper said. "But I know it's a reality, and whether I'm in contact with the people or not, you still know that's happening. It feels good to be able to give people hope anyway."

Hooper and her running group, Marathoners Gone Viral, have run to raise money for Dr. John Bell's oncolyticvirus research at the Ottawa Hospital in the hope that it could eventually lead to a better treatment or cure for pancreatic cancer.

• Cancer targeted by 2 viruses in Made-in-Canada therapy

She also plans to keep sharing her own story to inspire others facing cancer or any other life struggle that feels overwhelming.

"You have to hold on to hope. Because if you're not hopeful, you're scared, and living scared is very, very difficult."