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Kelianne O’Shea
Written By: Julia Brabant, May 2026Four Months Before Her Wedding, 28-Year-Old Kelianne O’Shea Received a Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer Diagnosis. Now, She’s Ringing the Bell.
At a time when 28-year-old Kelianne O’Shea should have been focusing on seating charts, dress alterations and honeymoon planning, she instead found herself facing Stage 4 cancer, prepping for chemo and coming to terms with the possibility that her life might end when it had barely begun.
It all started when, with little warning, Kelianne’s abdomen became so swollen that she appeared several months pregnant.
Emotionally, it was pretty tough.
She wasn’t, but doctors soon determined the swelling was the result of ascites, an excessive buildup of fluid in the abdomen that can result from advanced liver disease, heart disease, pancreatitis and cancer, among other causes. Alarmed, Kelianne went to the local emergency room, where bloodwork revealed elevated white blood cell counts. A subsequent CT scan showed a tumor on the tail of her pancreas.
Doctors drained the fluid from Kelianne’s abdomen and tested the ascites for cancer cells. Tests were positive, leading to a Stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis just four months before she was to walk down the aisle.
“Emotionally, it was pretty tough,” Kelianne said.
Kelianne’s ER doctors referred her to MD Anderson, where an endoscopy confirmed her initial diagnosis and her oncologist told her the average person diagnosed with pancreatic cancer was about 60 years old.
It was a shocking diagnosis, especially given Kelianne’s age – but it wasn’t one she planned to quietly accept. Instead, she went to her medical teams and let them know that she was aware a lot of people see pancreatic cancer as a death sentence, but she didn’t count herself among them.
I said, ‘Look, I’m very angry this happened, but I want to fight and I’ll do anything it takes to do that. Either get on board, or I’ll get a second opinion.
“I said, ‘Look, I’m very angry this happened, but I want to fight and I’ll do anything it takes to do that. Either get on board, or I’ll get a second opinion.’”
Kelianne’s team got on board (“That team ended up saving my life!” she noted), and about a month after diagnosis, she started chemo using FOLFIRINOX. She underwent 10 rounds before the side effects, which included nausea, vomiting, appetite loss, fatigue, hair loss, mouth sores, weight loss and mental health struggles, became too overwhelming.
She switched to FOLFIRI, a different combination of chemo drugs, and tolerated it better, completing 20 rounds. She also completed two weeks of radiation before her care team decided that, given her tumor’s placement, more radiation could potentially damage her kidneys.
While Kelianne’s schedule was suddenly full of appointments and injections, she felt strongly about moving forward with her wedding as planned. She married her husband, Andrew, Oct. 26, 2024, putting to rest fears she’d had since the day of her diagnosis.
“That was actually my first question,” Kelianne said. “Can I still get married in October?”
While the wedding gave Kelianne and her husband a sense of normalcy at a time when little else felt typical, it also led her to wrestle with fears about how much time she might have left.
Waking up for two years and facing my own mortality at 28 years old – that was part of the reason I was so angry. Life could be over soon, and I didn’t really feel like I’d lived it yet.
“Waking up for two years and facing my own mortality at 28 years old – that was part of the reason I was so angry,” Kelianne said. “Life could be over soon, and I didn’t really feel like I’d lived it yet.”
To help manage the emotional toll that came with her diagnosis and treatment, Kelianne started seeing a cancer-focused therapist. A longtime believer in the power of therapy, Kelianne also partnered with a palliative care specialist (“They’re not just for people who are dying!” she said) to get on medications to support mental health and pain management. She encourages others facing similar illnesses to consider doing the same.
“It really turned my life around so I was able to function during chemo and go out to eat, drive, shop – everything I did normally, before cancer, but while going through treatment,” she said.
Kelianne’s mother also stepped into a caregiver role shortly after her retirement, which took place about a month before her daughter’s diagnosis. Recognizing the emotional strain involved, her mother enrolled in therapy herself so she could provide stronger emotional support to Kelianne during treatment.
Outside of the hospital, Kelianne searched for peace where she could find it. A former zookeeper and science major, she spent time outdoors, around animals and in nature, visiting friends from her zookeeper days on the job to brighten her spirits. She also meditated, practiced Reiki and did what she could to keep her spirits up, but she also made a point not to force positivity on herself simply because others around her expected it.
Throughout this two-year journey, I’ve stayed angry. A lot of people say, ‘Have a positive mindset.’ I did to a certain point, but I also stayed angry. Angry this was happening; angry I got diagnosed with a cancer I should never have been diagnosed with. I used that anger to fuel me and found the best medical team and doctors I could find.
“Throughout this two-year journey, I’ve stayed angry,” Kelianne said. “A lot of people say, ‘Have a positive mindset.’ I did to a certain point, but I also stayed angry. Angry this was happening; angry I got diagnosed with a cancer I should never have been diagnosed with. I used that anger to fuel me and found the best medical team and doctors I could find.”
Kelianne also speaks openly about another difficult reality many young people with cancer experience: watching life continue around them while theirs comes to a standstill. Some friendships strengthened during her diagnosis and treatment, she noted, while others faded, with some people finding her situation to be too much for them to handle.
They’re realities she shares openly on social media, where she makes a point to post the good, the bad and the ugly parts of survivorship. While Kelianne didn’t really have any other young people with cancer to speak to after her diagnosis, she has since established a close friendship with another young woman with breast cancer, and while they live in different states, the two speak regularly, sharing their struggles and successes.
“I’m happy I could be that outlet for her,” Kelianne said of the friendship. “It’s nice to have someone who you can put it all out there for and have them actually understand.”
By Thanksgiving 2025, though, Kelianne’s health had taken a turn. She thought she might have a stomach bug or influenza B, which was prevalent at the time, but things worsened to the point that her mother came to pick Kelianne up for chemo and she couldn’t get off the couch. She ended up back in the ER, where doctors determined she was septic and close to death. It turned out an abscess had attached itself to her tumor and become infected, with the infection then spreading throughout her abdomen.
Kelianne wound up spending two-and-a-half weeks in the ICU, and surgeons then said she needed an emergency surgery so they could clear the infection. They also told her to say goodbye to her family, because they were unsure if she’d survive the procedure or the days that would follow it. The hope was to clear enough of the infection to keep her alive long enough to potentially join a clinical trial later that summer.
Despite the grim outlook ahead of the procedure, Kelianne’s surgeons had an unexpected discovery when they started operating. Once they got in and removed the infected parts of her abdomen, they realized that her tumor had not metastasized after all, like they’d initially suspected. As a result, they were able to remove it in its entirety, which came as a pleasant surprise to Kelianne upon waking.
Today, her pancreas still functions, but she lives as a Type 1 diabetic, taking insulin at night and monitoring her blood sugar with a Dexcom monitoring device.
On April 16, 2026, Kelianne rang the bell, signaling the end of her treatment and a transition into survivorship.
Even now, though, she wants people to develop a better sense of what survivorship looks like after treatment ends.
“There’s a misconception of cancer patients being completely healed after treatment,” Kelianne said. “It takes years, from what I understand, for our bodies to heal from treatment, and just because we rang the bell, some people think we’re back to being normal and ourselves. But we’re still dealing with lots of side effects like chronic fatigue, body dysmorphia and survivor’s guilt, especially with certain types of cancer, like pancreatic cancer.”
If the cancer did come back, they’d be able to identify it, because they’re doing these tests for GI cancers every three months.
At the same time, Kelianne remains optimistic about the future of pancreatic cancer care and recently signed on to participate in a new, DNA-focused test that compares an individual’s DNA to that of their tumor with the hope of catching recurrences earlier.
“If the cancer did come back, they’d be able to identify it, because they’re doing these tests for GI cancers every three months,” Kelianne said.
She also pointed to mRNA injections and the Signatera blood test as encouraging developments that could help medical teams diagnose and treat pancreatic cancer earlier.
“Unfortunately, because pancreatic cancer is becoming more prevalent in younger patients, it’s becoming more popular in research,” Kelianne said. “It’s finally starting to get the attention it should have all along.”
She hopes that this momentum also changes how medical professionals approach treating people with pancreatic cancer moving forward.
“They need to go forward with the same gusto as the patient,” Kelianne said. “Like, ‘You want to fight it? Let’s get creative and see what we can do.’”
At the same time, Kelianne cautions people against falling into the trap of toxic positivity after a cancer diagnosis.
“If you’re sad or angry, be sad or angry! What’s happening to you really sucks,” Kelianne said. “Don’t diminish your feelings for other peoples’ benefit, and don’t be afraid to tell the truth if someone asks how you are.”
After surviving a diagnosis many people immediately associate with death, Kelianne now sees life differently than she once did.
“I always thought it was a cliché that a near-death experience changes you – and then I lived through it,” Kelianne said. “I can confirm that it does change you. Things are not that serious. Little things I used to worry about don’t matter. If it’s not giving you joy, making you happy or benefiting you, why do it or stress it?”
