In this episode, Jeannette speaks to Maggie Watts, who is fighting to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer and get more funding for research and treatment. She has done so with great success. To the point where people like the actress Julie Hesmondhalgh, who played Hayley Cropper in Coronation Street, Joey Barton the footballer, the DJ Stephanie Hirst and Lorraine Kelly joined her campaign. Today, thanks to her efforts and those of other campaigners this cancer attracts more funding, but there is still a lot to be done.
Maggie explains how her husband and family embraced the time he had left and shares some of the many lessons she learned then. Lessons and skills that stayed with her and have continued to drive her forwards. Maggie and Jeannette also talk about how to tackle difficult conversations, how having a clear purpose, a positive mindset and never giving up means you can achieve incredible things in life.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- There is still not enough awareness of pancreatic cancer and research into the disease is woefully underfunded.
- The survival rates for pancreatic cancer are low, partly because of delays in diagnosis.
- GPs frequently miss pancreatic cancer, so you need to be aware of the symptoms (** see our list of symptoms below)
- You may have to actively ask your doctor to consider pancreatic cancer as a potential cause of your symptoms.
- There is a tendency for doctors not to look at your symptoms in totality to treat each one individually – don´t be afraid to remind your doctors of your full list of symptoms.
- Being able to challenge in a respectful yet effective way is an important skill.
- The medical team are the experts, but it should never stop you from doing your own research and discussing what you have found with them.
- Don´t be afraid to challenge if something doesn´t feel right.
- There are mechanisms available that you can use to force change using the political system.
- Twitter is a good way to gain momentum for a campaign and find influencers and celebrities who will get on board.
- Ideally, you need someone who has a high profile to get involved to keep the momentum going.
- Tenacity, a positive mindset, and pulling together as a team really does enable you to beat the odds and get the exposure your cause needs.
- You only fail when you stop.
- Keep yourself in good shape, if you don´t you will burn out and have to stop your campaign.
- You need to embrace life, none of us know how long we´ve got on this earth.
- Hope is contagious, it drives people on to find solutions and ways of coping even in seemingly impossible situations.
- Pancreatic cancer used to only get 1% of funding. Now, thanks to Maggie and her fellow campaigners it gets 3%.
BEST MOMENTS
‘Change doesn´t happen unless people have a voice’
‘Whatever life throws at me now, mostly it’s sortable or doable´
´If you've got something, whatever it is that you want to achieve, figure it out as you go along and don't let people cast any doubt in your mind´
VALUABLE RESOURCES
Brave, Bold, Brilliant podcast series
ABOUT THE GUEST
Maggie Watts is a Pancreatic Cancer Advocate, campaigning for more awareness and more funding of Pancreatic Cancer.
For the last 10 years Maggie has campaigned for more awareness and more funding for pancreatic cancer as a result of losing her husband, Kevin to the disease and discovering that survival rates hadn't improved at all in the 40 years prior to his death. Kev's mum had also died of pancreatic cancer exactly 40 years earlier (aged 27) and nothing had changed whatsoever in all of that time.
This was a shock to Maggie and also unbelievable and unacceptable that nothing had changed in all of that time - after Kev died it became a mission of hers (and also a coping mechanism for grief) to see what she could do to raise awareness. Maggie started a Government e-petition and took to social media to try and find 100,000 people to sign - to try and become eligible for a Parliamentary Debate.
With the support of many around her, including some high profile media and sports personalities such as the actress Julie Hesmondhalgh, the BBC radio presenter Stephanie Hirst and footballer Joey Barton, Maggie was successful in achieving her goal and went to Parliament for the debate which was one of the most highly attended backbench debates ever.
Maggie continues to tirelessly champion the cause for Pancreatic Cancer, through her Hope is Contagious Campaign, to make this world a better place and provide hope for Pancreatic Cancer sufferers and their families.
GUEST RESOURCES
Hope Is Contagious – Maggie´s pancreatic cancer awareness website
PancreaticCancer.org.uk
PancreaticCancerAction.org
Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund – pcrf.org.uk
PancreaticCancerAction Scotland
ABOUT THE HOST
Jeannette Linfoot is a highly regarded senior executive, property investor, board advisor, and business mentor with over 25 years of global professional business experience across the travel, leisure, hospitality, and property sectors. Having bought, ran, and sold businesses all over the world, Jeannette now has a portfolio of her own businesses and also advises and mentors other business leaders to drive forward their strategies as well as their own personal development.
Jeannette is a down to earth leader, a passionate champion for diversity & inclusion, and a huge advocate of nurturing talent so every person can unleash their full potential and live their dreams.
CONTACT METHOD
https://www.jeannettelinfootassociates.com/
YOUTUBE
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Podcast Description
Jeannette Linfoot talks to incredible people about their experiences of being Brave, Bold & Brilliant, which have allowed them to unleash their full potential in business, their careers, and life in general. From the boardroom tables of ‘big’ international business to the dining room tables of entrepreneurial start-ups, how to overcome challenges, embrace opportunities and take risks, whilst staying ‘true’ to yourself is the order of the day.
** Spotting the Early Signs of Pancreatic Cancer and Helping to Raise Awareness
9,000 people die every year with pancreatic cancer, in the UK. Early diagnosis is essential and greatly improves survival time.
The main symptoms of pancreatic cancer are:
- Indigestion that does not respond to normal medications
- Pale and/or smelly/oily stools that do not flush easily
- Upper abdominal pain
- Mid back pain – in both sexes, at about the point a lady´s bra strap would sit
- Fatigue
- Unexplained weight loss
- Pain on eating
- Diabetes that is not associated with weight gain
- Jaundice
You may have just one, or several of these symptoms.
Early diagnosis greatly improves survival times. So, go to the doctors early and don´t be afraid to politely challenge doctors and ask for a scan if symptoms persist.
If your symptoms persist actively, ask your doctor about whether it could be pancreatic cancer. This cancer is often missed or misdiagnosed, so asking your doctor the question helps to prompt them to explore things more.
Please keep an eye out for the signs in yourself and your loved ones.
Also, please support Pancreatic Cancer month, which is November and World Pancreatic Cancer day, which is the 19th November.
Sharing the Hope Is Contagious website and any pancreatic cancer tweets and posts on social media takes moments, yet it helps a lot.
Travel, Bold, Brilliant, business, growth, scale, marketing, investment, investing, entrepreneurship, coach, consultant, mindset, six figures, seven figures, travel, industry, ROI, B2B, inspirational: https://linktr.ee/JLinfoot
