Olivia Williams opened up about her harrowing journey with pancreatic cancer, revealing she experienced years of misdiagnoses and dismissals by doctors. The professionally trained British actress is now supporting the upcoming TCS London Marathon‘s charity of the year, Pancreatic Cancer UK, calling for a cheap test that would lead to earlier detection of the disease.
Speaking to The Times U.K. in a new interview, The Crown star discussed her experience with VIPoma (vasoactive intestinal peptide-secreting tumor), a rare neuroendocrine tumor of the pancreas that is detected in 1 out of 1 million people yearly. Notoriously difficult to diagnose early, pancreatic cancer is among the deadliest of the common cancers.
Williams said she first experienced symptoms a decade ago, eventually embarking on a four-year journey where she visited 10 doctors in three countries to get to the root of her illness. She recalled being misdiagnosed with lupus, perimenopause and other forms of cancer. It wasn’t until a gastroenterologist in Los Angeles “who was like a dog with a bone” tested for a rare hormone, ordered a CT scan and biopsy that the cancerous tumor was uncovered.
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“If someone had f—ing well diagnosed me in the four years I’d been saying I was ill, when they told me I was menopausal or had irritable bowel syndrome or [was] crazy — I used that word advisedly because one doctor referred me for a psychiatric assessment — then one operation possibly could have cleared the whole thing and I could describe myself as cancer-free, which I cannot now ever be,” the Dune: Prophecy star said.
Since then, she’s had several procedures to remove the tumor, along with sections of her pancreas, spleen, gallbladder and liver. However, by that point, the tumor had metastasized.
“The metastases have kept popping up,” she explained. “So we’ve been playing whack-a-mole every time they appear.”
Williams, who is also known for her work in Wes Anderson’s Rushmore and M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense, has been taking medication to limit the cancer cells’ growth and undergoing routine scans. With targeted internal radiotherapy, Williams described treatment including instances where “people in hazmat suits come in with a lead box of a radioactive material, which they inject into me and I become radioactive,” which have forced her to isolate from all human contact for two weeks.
“It’s supposed to buy me maybe a year, maybe two or three years, of freedom from treatment. In the best-case scenario it would have made [the metastases] disappear but that didn’t happen,” she said.
While the actress said it is “too late” for her, she cautioned those over 40 to remain vigilant with their health, adding, “This is where I get emotional but I’m not looking for sympathy, I’m looking for a cheap, early test.”
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