Finding Gratitude Amid a Health Journey
- Fashion model Tirah Ciampa, 27, experienced stomach pains that turned out to be a large tumor in her pancreas. Luckily, she was able to undergo successful surgery to have the tumor removed and a couple of months later she said she is now cancer free.
- Pancreatic cancer is a type of cancer that forms in the pancreas. It is more difficult to treat because symptoms usually don't present themselves until the cancer has spread or metastasized. Symptoms may include changes in body weight, back pain, and jaundice.
- Since symptoms for pancreatic cancer do not present themselves during the early stages of the disease, most people diagnosed present "advanced disease, which means that the cancer has either spread beyond the pancreas or into other organs like the liver and so you cannot take it out with surgeries," Dr. Anirban Maitra from MD Anderson Cancer Center says.
- Oftentimes, patients find a greater sense of gratitude after battling a chronic disease or cancer. It means being thankful for what you have and showing appreciation for it.
A 27-year-old fashion model is counting her blessings after an unexpected bout with cancer. Tirah Ciampa considers herself "fit and healthy" but after noticing a "weird feeling" her persistence to figure out what was wrong led to her diagnosis. Her story draws attention to paying attention to your body when something seems amiss.
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Ciampa is used to being in the spotlight as a fashion model. However, she's being adored for her intangible qualities such as her strength and resilience. She's on the tail end of a hard-fought battle with pancreatic cancer. She described how her cancer journey began in a TikTok video, where she said she experienced "heart problems." Unbeknownst to her at the time, she had a sizeable tumor growing inside her body. "I found out that I had a 15-centimeter tumor growing from inside my pancreas," Ciampa said."It was so large it was pressing up against every organ in my body," she continued.
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She went on to say her stomach "completely collapsed" around the large tumor resulting in weight loss for the Miss World Australia contender.
"A four-hour surgery turned out to be an eight-hour surgery…I woke up with nine tubes coming out of me," Ciampa described after undergoing the procedure to remove the tumor.
After her initial surgery, she had to have two tubes in her stomach redone due to a leak. The tubes helped drain fluid and helped with pain management.
"I spent nine days in the hospital and every day in there I slowly got one or two tubes removed up until the last day," Ciampa said.
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Her recovery lasted a couple of months. She needed help completing everyday tasks and gained a huge amount of gratitude during the process.
"I never knew how lucky I was before to be able to shower myself or even get out of bed myself with no pain…These things we would never stop and think of as blessings, but I will now be forever grateful for the little things in life," she said.
She said amid her recovery, she continues taking medications and receives regular injections. As she continued getting back to her usual self, she also began light workouts.
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She said in her social media post, she hopes her journey helps others battling a chronic disease or cancer feel inspired.
Today, Ciampa said she is "cancer free" but remains grateful for the life she has and the people supporting her.
More on Pancreatic Cancer
Understanding Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer is a type of cancer that forms in the pancreas. It is more difficult to treat because symptoms usually don't present themselves until the cancer has spread or metastasized. Symptoms may include changes in body weight, back pain, and jaundice.
Dr. Allyson Ocean, a medical oncologist at Weill Cornell Medical Center explained pancreatic cancer is difficult to treat because the cancer cells have a barrier around them called the stroma which prevents cancer medications including chemotherapy and radiation from targeting and killing cancer cells.
WATCH: Dr. Allyson Ocean provides a breakdown of pancreatic cancer.
Although pancreatic cancer survival rates have been improving for decades, it's still considered to be largely incurable. An exception to this is if the tumor is still small enough and localized enough to be operated on. As most pancreatic cancers are particularly aggressive and progress rapidly, this means we need to catch them early Dr. Anirban Maitra from MD Anderson Cancer Center says.
"Most individuals, about 80%, will actually present with what we called advanced disease, which means that the cancer has either spread beyond the pancreas or into other organs like the liver and so you cannot take it out with surgeries," Dr. Maitra told SurvivorNet.
"Only about 20% of individuals will actually be candidates for surgery. And of course, this has an impact on the prognosis of the disease, because for patients who have advanced disease, the treatments we have available for them, work somewhat, but they don’t really do as well as we would like for them to have an impact," Dr. Maitra continued.
WATCH: Detecting pancreatic cancer early is crucial.
Early detection is vital to give you the best chance possible of beating pancreatic cancer. If you're at high risk, and you suspect something might be wrong, some tests can be performed to see whether you might have pancreatic cancer. An endoscopic ultrasound or an MRI scan are two common ways of doing this, and doctors have been known to find early and treatable pancreatic cancers using both of these tests.
How Gratitude Can Change a Cancer Patient's Outlook on Life
Many cancer patients who bravely shared their stories with SurvivorNet often talk about how grateful they are for the people and things in their lives that make them happy.
Gratitude means being thankful for what you have and showing appreciation for it. It's a mindset that helps people going through tough times, and the experts SurvivorNet spoke with encourage cancer warriors and their loved ones to practice gratitude.
Dr. Zuri Murrell, a colorectal cancer surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, told SurvivorNet that his patients who live with gratitude tend to handle treatment better because this attitude is one way to stay mentally healthy.
WATCH: Finding gratitude and its impact on your well-being.
"The patients who do well with cancer, they live life with that kind of gratitude, but in terms of everything…They're grateful, not for cancer, but they're grateful for an opportunity to know that life is finite," Dr. Murrell explained.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, several studies have indicated that learning to live with gratitude can lead to more happiness and less stress.
One way to exercise gratitude is to take time to think about things you appreciate every day. One way to exercise gratitude in your life includes writing down those things in a journal.
Questions to Ask Your Doctor
If you are in the middle of a cancer journey and are looking to improve your emotional health, consider what you're grateful for. To begin, ask yourself the following questions to kickstart your journey to achieve gratitude.
- What can I do if I'm struggling to be thankful for what I have in my life?
- Are there local resources for people wishing to improve their mental health?
- What else can I do to help reduce my stress level during my cancer journey?
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.