Karen Humphries (l) endeavours to raise $5,000 for Professor Jas Samra's (r) department at the Royal North Shore, to help fund research into rare gall bladder cancer.
ON the 14th of October 2021, just two weeks an emergency cholecystectomy surgery to remove her gall bladder, Karen Humphries was diagnosed with gall bladder cancer.
Gall bladder cancer is rare, with around 891 Australians diagnosed with gall bladder or bile duct cancer every year (3 cases every 100,000 people). The cancer develops when abnormal cells in the gall bladder grow to form a mass or lump called a tumour. Malignant tumours have the potential to spread to other parts of the body through the blood stream or lymph vessels. With no early detection tests for gall bladder or bile duct cancers, many people aren’t diagnosed until Stage III or IV – which Humphries says she was just “millimetres off”.
Humphries was immediately admitted to the Royal North Shore and placed under the care of a hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgeon, Professor Jas Samra. After a series of scans and tests, Professor Samra conducted an emergency two-part liver resection, lymph node removal and appendectomy. Biopsies from surrounding areas revealed the cancer had spread to her nearby lymph nodes.
“Without Professor Samra getting me urgently admitted to the Royal North Shore, I don’t know when I would have had those operations. [The cancer] would have travelled to my blood,” says Humphries, who is currently undergoing six months of chemotherapy.
According to Humphries, previous medical scans show the rare cancer growing inside of her for the last four years.
Humphries lives with a rare genetic condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), a multisystemic disorder that affects connective tissue in all body systems.
“For years, I have struggled to find doctors who understand this genetic condition, let alone treat me,” says Humphries. “Going to a hospital like the Royal North Shore, where all the staff know about your condition and your rare cancer is amazing in itself…[Professor Samra has] undeniably provided me with the best care I have ever received in my thirty-year history of being a patient in the ‘medical system’. He has changed my life in so many ways.”
To show her gratitude, Humphries endeavours to raise $5,000 for Professor Samra’s department via the North Foundation. The funds will allow Professor Samra’s department to continue researching gall bladder and other biliary cancers and diseases, train other staff, and provide outstanding care to patients.
Humphries also hopes to raise awareness of the rare cancer.
To help support this cause, purchase novelty socks at facebook.com/Socks4Cancer, or donate directly at www.north-foundation.raisely.com/karen-humphries.
