“X Factor” alum Amber Woods (whose real name is Amber Fisher) may be known for her music and reality TV appearance; however, she’s now revealed that she’s dealing with a serious health issue. The singer has been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Beyond that, she spent months being misdiagnosed and faced terrible handling from medical staff when she finally learned the truth.
‘Something Didn’t Feel Right’
When Woods started to feel sick last spring, People notes that “something didn’t feel right — and doctors weren’t much help.”
“They were telling me it was acid reflux,” Woods told People. “It was super severe, but they were like, you’re 25, what else could it be?”
Woods didn’t get any better. In fact, her health got worse as she started suffering from bloating and hemorrhoids, while also losing her breath when going out for a walk, which is something that she had previously done daily without any issues.
At the same time, doctors didn’t think anything was wrong with Woods. She says, “I was like, ‘I really don’t feel like this is normal.'”
It took Woods eight months to finally learn that she has stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
“The thing about pancreatic cancer, and the reason why they call it the silent killer, is because you don’t realize something’s wrong until it’s further down the line,” Woods says. “I’m trying to help people catch their cancer earlier and be their own advocate.”
Along with the diagnosis, Woods had to face the fact that the medical staff she was dealing with weren’t treating her well. She recalls, “The doctor pulls me and my mom into a room and he says to me — so coldly — ‘You have cancer.'”
In shock, Woods thought there must have been a mistake, but says, “He’s like, ‘No. You have pancreatic cancer metastasized to your liver, so stage 4. Now you’re gonna go up to radiology, and they will stick a 20-inch needle into you and biopsy your liver so we can see what kind of tumor you have.'”
Spending the night in the hospital, “an emotional train wreck” while crying with her mom, Woods says, “They’re not telling me anything. I asked, ‘Am I terminal?’ And they’re like, ‘Hmm…’ They’re not answering me.”
Woods Got a Second Opinion & Has ‘Just Gotta Get Through This’
After getting a second opinion from another medical professional, Woods is now on the right path, with her doctor telling her, per People, “We’re going to help you. We’re going to take care of this.”
“That was great — it finally made me feel like somebody was seeing me as a human and not as a statistic,” Woods says. “After my appointment with her, I felt like there was hope.”
Now taking chemo pills, Woods says, “They will know if it’s working in May.”
She also admits, “I’m scared. I’m really scared.”
Despite that, the singer explained, “I am soaking up sunlight, trying to keep busy, working on my music, and telling myself that this is not the end for me. There’s more, and I just gotta get through this.”
