Perth mum battling ‘incurable’ stage 4 pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer

An Australian mother and daughter have experienced the unthinkable and were both diagnosed with cancer in the last decade, despite having no family history.

In 2014 Ruby Eltringham was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia at just nine months old and relapsed in 2015. Last year when all seemed well, her mother Emma was diagnosed with ‘incurable’ stage 4 pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer (pNET). 

The Perth family-of-five are struggling to grip the reality of Emma’s devastating disease impacting her pancreas while Ruby, now 9, is cancer-free.

‘Every day I cry and just hope I can be here for my family until I am old,’ Emma, 33, told FEMAIL. 

‘Cancer really is hard on families. We still can’t believe we have to face this again, it just doesn’t seem fair for one family. My kids need me, I can’t leave them.’ 

Emma will likely need to travel overseas to America for treatment after exhausting all options locally, which is expected to cost over $200,000 and a GoFundMe has been created to assist. 

In 2014 Ruby Eltringham (left) was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia at just nine months old and relapsed in 2015. Last year when all seemed well, her mother Emma (right) was diagnosed with ‘incurable’ stage 4 pancreatic neuroendocrine tumour (pNET)

The Perth family-of-five are struggling to grip the reality of Emma’s devastating disease impacting her pancreas while Ruby, now 9, is cancer-free (pictured from left: son Chayse, husband Joel, youngest daughter Evie, Emma, Ruby)

All was well for the Eltringhams prior to 2014 but then Emma and husband Joel noticed baby Ruby, their second child, start to look ‘very pale and tired’. 

‘We took her to the children’s hospital for a blood test and her red blood cell count was extremely low, so we went to the oncology ward. We didn’t expect it to be anything serious,’ Emma said.

Little Ruby had a blood transfusion and ‘lots of test’ that found she had ‘pre-leukaemic cells’.

‘We were told to “watch and wait” until it developed,’ Emma said. A few months passed and the cells eventually developed into cancer, so the couple took their young baby back to hospital.

She was officially diagnosed with the disease and remained in hospital for six months for chemotherapy treatment before she was able to return home. 

‘We went on with our lives and ruby thrived until she had some strange symptoms a year later.. She had relapsed in her brain, and would require a bone marrow transplant from a unrelated donor. This ultimately saved her life,’ Emma said.

‘These were such horrible times. She was a very sick little girl during the treatment but never ever whined.’

When Ruby was in remission and eventually cancer-free, Emma and Joel thought it was a miracle. 

‘We felt like our family was in such a good place and we bought a new house,’ she said.

Emma will likely need to travel overseas to America for treatment after exhausting all options locally, which is expected to cost over $200,000

But in 2022 the unimaginable happened.

Emma felt the ‘fittest she had ever been’ and was going to the gym every day, then she started to noticed ‘a little darkening of the skin’ and weight gain. 

She visited a GP and requested an ultrasound that detected legions on her liver and the investigation spiralled from there. 

Joel and her mum accompanied her to the hospital to hear the results where doctors were ‘very straight forward’ and delivered the dreadful news. 

Soon after the cancer was found it was determined to be stage four as it had spread to her liver – meaning the survival rate was slim. 

‘I was told the cancer is treatable but not curable, which was absolutely heartbreaking,’ she said. 

‘My doctor said, “sorry, you’re just unlucky”. It was a complete shock, I struggle every day with it.’

‘What I struggle most with is that it will be with me for the remainder of my life and that my life may be cut short. I try not to believe this,’ Emma said (pictured with husband Joel)

As the disease is deemed to be ‘manageable’ not ‘curable’, Emma has had ongoing rounds of different chemotherapy and radiotherapy along with a monthly injection. 

Doctors refuse to operate to remove the cancer, but she remains hopeful someone in Australia will give her a second chance. 

Alternatively, she’s considering treatment elsewhere in the US, though this will be costly. 

‘I just want people to know more about this cancer and how it tears families apart. It’s not common so it doesn’t get the funding others do,’ she added. 

‘What I struggle most with is that it will be with me for the remainder of my life and that my life may be cut short. I try not to believe this.

‘I really hope to get overseas as there is much more options or a surgeon here to remove the cancer and offer a liver transplant.’

Close family friend Amy Ryan started a GoFundMe page for the family with the goal to raise $100,000 to cover medical costs, and already more than $50,000 has been donated. 

If you’d like to donate, please click here.