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Annie Nichols
Written By: Julia Brabant, October 2025From Caregiver to Pancreatic Cancer Survivor: Annie Nichols’ Story
Annie Nichols understood all too well what it takes to care for someone with serious health issues, having served as a caregiver for her own mother and brother for years before facing a life-threatening diagnosis of her own. When doctors told Annie she had early-stage pancreatic cancer in 2017, she felt lucky to have others step in and lend a hand – and with their assistance and her own self-advocacy, she learned to accept help, slow her pace and focus on her own healing for the first time in years.
It’s something I have no control over. I have the good lord on my side, so I put it in your hands
Annie, a lifelong healthy eater, was at church one day when her stomach felt like it was tied up in knots, leading her to skip her daily cup of tea. She’d also noticed several other subtle, but concerning, symptoms, including dark red urine and pale, floating stools. Thinking they might be the result of something she’s eaten, Annie returned home to see if eating something green might make things return to normal.
When nothing changed, she contacted her doctor’s office, sharing her symptoms with one of the staff nurses. The nurse shared Annie’s concerns with the doctor, who asked her to come in right away. When Annie arrived, the doctor immediately noticed jaundice, or yellowing, in Annie’s eyes and sent her in for an MRI.
Upon reviewing the test results, medical staff contacted Annie and told her to check herself into Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s Froedtert Hospital right away.
It was there that doctors delivered some tough news: Annie had pancreatic cancer, something she knew virtually nothing about at the time. Her doctor tried to gauge her reaction, asking if she felt upset or angry about the diagnosis.
“Why?” Annie had asked. “It’s something I have no control over. I have the good lord on my side, so I put it in your hands.”
How did I get this? I eat really healthy – no pork, no fried foods, nothing like that.
Annie soon met with Dr. Susan Tsai, M.D., a surgical oncology specialist at Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin.
“I’m going to be your surgeon, and I’m going to take very good care of you,” Annie recalls the doctor saying. Feeling comforted by her presence and calming bedside manner, Annie asked what might have caused her to develop pancreatic cancer in the first place.
“How did I get this?” she’d asked. “I eat really healthy – no pork, no fried foods, nothing like that.”
Dr. Tsai responded that “It happens to the best of us,” noting that many people with pancreatic cancer never determine exactly how or why they got it. Even healthy young people can develop the disease, and while genetic factors come into play in some situations, in others, its origins remain a mystery. In Annie’s case, she underwent testing to see if genetics might have contributed to her cancer diagnosis, but tests didn’t show any obvious genetic links or predispositions to cancer.
Dr. Tsai and the rest of Annie’s team got her into treatment without delay, and Annie underwent eight weeks of chemotherapy and radiation with the hope of eventually having surgery. She ended up having surgery in July of 2017, after which she spent 13 days recovering in the hospital before returning home and starting adjuvant, or after-primary-treatment, chemotherapy. While recovering in the hospital, she took great care to follow her doctors’ orders, taking her medicine as prescribed and doing everything she could to stay active and build back strength.
While Annie focused on getting better in the hospital, several cousins of her took over caregiving duties, helping and living alongside her mother, whose heath had declined, and her brother, who experienced ongoing seizures. Knowing this would happen ahead of time, Annie did everything possible to simplify the process, doling out a months’ worth of medications to make caregiving more manageable.
While Annie felt some degree of relief knowing her mother and brother were in good hands, she also recognized that the arrangement was only temporary and looked forward to returning home and resuming her regular duties.
By the end of her hospital stay, Annie was down to just 89 pounds, and she’d also lost her hair. She remained grateful, though, for her health, her care team and the helping hand she got from her cousins who’d stepped into her caregiving role for the moment.
“I was thanking them and praising the good lord for letting me live,” Annie said. “Many people, I’ve heard, don’t live through that.”
Annie’s post-surgery scans looked clear, so she continued having regular checkups every two weeks, and then every three and eventually spacing them out to once a year. She also continues to follow doctors’ orders to a T, doing everything they suggest to gain weight and build back an appetite.
“You may not always agree with the doctor, but you must follow their orders,” Annie said. That’s why the doctor IS a doctor. They know what they’re doing.”
Annie also cautions others facing similar health challenges to avoid expecting immediate results from treatment.
“Things aren’t always going to work the first time you use them,” she said. “They have to get into your system first, and that can take some time. Listen to your doctors, not people on the streets…your body is different than anyone else’s, and it can react differently, too.”
She also encourages people, healthy or not, to devote more time and attention to knowing their bodies so that they can recognize when something feels off and take action in real time.
“A lot of people miss things because they don’t check themselves; they’re not tuned in on their bodies,” she said. “Look at your body, look at your eyes, and look when you go to the bathroom. Everyone is in such a rush; so they don’t always time to look at themselves and be concerned about their health.”
Finally, Annie encourages people facing pancreatic cancer and other serious diseases to minimize stressing over things they can’t control.
“Why should I get upset over something I have no control over?” she asked. “I believe in the Father; I put this in his hands. I asked Him to take care of me, and he did. He knew I had to come home and take care of my mother and brother.”
Annie has shown no sign of cancer since her surgery in 2017.
