Press release posted 14 August 2025
Ann Lally, a 69-year-old former childminder from Stockport, is doing well and has recently welcomed her first grandchild - a boy called Arthur– a year after she was told she could only have 6 to 12 months to live after being diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer that had spread to her lungs and liver.
Ann, who has 2 grown-up children – Becky (40) and Michael (39 and Arthur’s dad) – had 6 months of fortnightly chemotherapy, which she finished in February this year. She now comes back to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, the specialist cancer centre in Manchester, where she was treated, every 3 months for a check-up.
Her tumours have shrunk by 42% since she started treatment in July last year, and her latest scan shows that they’re still stable.
Pancreatic cancer has one of the worst survival rates of any cancer. According to Cancer Research UK, only 10% of people with a diagnosis like Ann’s will still be alive a year after they were diagnosed.
Ann was diagnosed in June 2024, just 3 months after her husband Mike, whom she’d been with since she was 16, died from a heart attack. He had also been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer in September 2023, but due to a lung condition called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, he couldn’t have any treatment.
“I didn’t have any symptoms other than a tummy ache, so to be told that I not only had cancer, but the same type as my husband was both shocking and devastating. My kids came with me to my first appointment, where they heard that I might only have 6 months to live. They’d just lost their dad, and now they were faced with losing me as well; it was almost unbearable.
“Becky and Michael kept me going. I wanted to keep things as normal as possible for them after all they’d been through. I decided right at the beginning that I was going to be positive, carry on as normal, and enjoy my life, and that is what I have been doing ever since.”
“The chemo I had made me feel a bit sick, but then they took one of the components out and I was fine then,” she says. “I came into The Christie and was hooked to a drip of chemotherapy, which later came home with me. Then, a couple of days later, the district nurse came to take the bottle off. I just tried to get on with life as normal, and even put tinsel around it on Christmas Day,” she says.
Ann had been on treatment for a few weeks when Michael told her he and his wife were expecting their first child.
“I love being a nana. My son and daughter-in-law also live in Stockport, so I am looking forward to being involved in Arthur’s life for as long as possible.
“I can’t put how I feel into words. I’ve been given this extra time and I’m treasuring every single second of it. In addition to spending lots of time with family and friends, I'm moving house, have been on two holidays, and have got a big family holiday in August to look forward to,” she adds.
“It’s wonderful to see that Ann has had such a good response to treatment and that she’s been able to meet her first grandchild,” comments Dr Richard Hubner, Ann’s consultant at The Christie. “Being able to help people reach these milestones is a rewarding part of my job.”
“Sadly, not everyone will have as good an outcome as Ann. Pancreatic cancer is very aggressive and is often diagnosed at a late stage, making it difficult to treat. This is why survival rates are so low. In recent years, we’ve seen more research to try and find new treatments for the disease, which is encouraging to see.
“As with all cancers, being diagnosed as early as possible is always best. Symptoms of pancreatic cancer include jaundice, indigestion, unexplained weight loss, and a change in your bowel habits. A full list of symptoms is available on the NHS website, and I’d encourage anyone who is worried to go and see their GP as soon as possible,” he adds.