Olivia Williams Opens Up About Her Cancer Journey: "I’ll Never Be Cancer-Free"
Renowned actress Olivia Williams has spoken candidly about her cancer journey, revealing that she’ll never be cancer-free due to a delayed diagnosis. In an interview with The Times, Williams shared her harrowing experience of visiting 10 doctors over four years to determine the cause of her symptoms, which included aching limbs, fatigue, and chronic diarrhea.
According to Williams, she was initially misdiagnosed with lupus and perimenopause, before a doctor finally discovered a rare cancerous tumor in her pancreas. "If someone had fucking 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," she said.
Williams, who has starred in numerous films and television shows, including The Crown, The Sixth Sense, Dune: Prophecy, and The Ghost Writer, has undergone several procedures to remove the tumor. However, due to the late discovery of the cancer, it had metastasized to her liver, with metastases continuing to appear. "We’ve been playing whack-a-mole every time they appear," she said.
The Rushmore actress has been advocating for donations for Pancreatic Cancer UK and hopes to raise awareness about the disease. She revealed that she has been treated four times with Lutathera, a targeted internal radiotherapy, over the course of two years. "I go to a room in King’s College hospital and people in hazmat suits come in with a lead box of a radioactive material, which they inject into me and I become radioactive," she said. "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."
Williams’ experience highlights the importance of early diagnosis and treatment for pancreatic cancer. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Williams’ story is a testament to the need for increased awareness and funding for pancreatic cancer research. As Williams continues to undergo treatment, she remains optimistic and determined to raise awareness about the disease.
In her interview with The Times, Williams also shared her emotional experience of receiving bad news about her condition. "I go in like a puppy with this optimistic, bright face and then they give me bad news and it’s like, oh my God, I fell for it again," she said. "They’ve found new metastases pretty well either just before Christmas or in the middle of a summer holiday. Then, for three years in a row, they started appearing too close to major blood vessels to zap. So there was a period when we were just sitting and watching them grow, which is a horrible feeling."
This article is based on a report from The Hollywood Reporter, which can be found at https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/olivia-williams-never-be-cancer-free-late-diagnosis-1236196410/.
