Marit van Tooren
My name is Marit van Tooren. I am 23 and live in Rotterdam. My mother died of pancreatic cancer in May 2016, when I was 14.
My mother was a remarkable person: warm, intuitive and deeply caring. She had a special place in her heart for children and adults facing difficult circumstances.
In 2013, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. After an eventful year of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, she appeared to be cancer-free. At the beginning of 2016, however, my mother developed jaundice. On 22 February, Professor Casper van Eijck confirmed that she had pancreatic cancer. Less than a month later, she underwent a Whipple procedure, in which the head of the pancreas and part of the duodenum were removed. No metastases were visible at the time. Sadly, on 31 March, it became clear that the cancer had spread to her liver. I remember Professor Van Eijck giving my mother the news with tears in his eyes: he had examined her liver during surgery and there had been no sign of disease. She was given six to twelve months to live, but in the end we had only five weeks. My mother died on 8 May 2016, aged 51.
My mother remained positive and strong. She trusted her instincts and usually knew what to do. Her courage and optimism helped us to let her go. She taught us to carry on with the love and strength she gave us, and to pursue happiness in our own lives.
In the 2024–2025 academic year, I completed my bachelor's degree in medicine at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Studying medicine had always been my dream, and my mother's caring example and experience of illness only strengthened that ambition. I hope Support Casper's work will help create a future in which a pancreatic cancer diagnosis comes with genuine hope, more time and a better quality of life.
Marit van Tooren