Wagoner Woman Beating the Odds After Pancreatic Cancer Diagnosis

Wagoner Woman Beating the Odds After Pancreatic Cancer Diagnosis

The news of Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek battling pancreatic cancer was felt all the around the country. The news was especially hard for a woman in Wagoner who is also battling pancreatic cancer right now and understands first-hand what Trebek is going through.

“I just got sick and thought I had a stomach infection or something then I turned jaundice and finally went to the hospital,” Lisa Plunkett explained.

Plunkett 57, tells News on 6 that there’s no history of cancer in her family and the news really caught her off guard.

“It's still kinda hard to believe that it happened to me cuz I was really healthy, I worked all the time, and we're always going and doing something, I exercise 4-5 times a week. I'm a certified refit instructor.”

According to Dr. Supriya Koya with Hillcrest Medical Center there are as many as 50,000 cases of pancreatic cancer diagnosed each year. Of those 50,000 patients, as many as 40,000 will die from the disease.

“The pancreas lies right behind the stomach. It's a very difficult location to get to so that's why pancreatic cancers are usually diagnosed at late stage and it's rare to see an early pancreatic cancer diagnosis,” Dr. Koya said.

When it comes to cancer deaths Dr. Koya says pancreatic cancer is the 4th leading cause of death in the U.S.

Those who have stage four cancer, like Alex Trebek, have a five year, 7% survival rate, according to Dr. Koya. Those diagnosed at any stage of pancreatic cancer are given a five year 20-20% survival rate.

Dr. Koya says anyone over the age of 60 that has frequent abdominal pain that can often be passed off as indigestion should consult their physician.

Because the cancer spread Plunkett lost her pancreas, spleen and 20% of her stomach.

“The worst thing about that is that you're immediately diabetic because you don't have any way to produce insulin or anything,” Plunkett said.

She has just a few chemo sessions left and really feels lucky that at stage three she’s beat the statistics.

“I have a wonderful family and God has just been with us every single second for every bad thing that's happened there's been 100 good things that have happened and we have had lots of prayers and God has just got us through it.”