Around half of all new cases are diagnosed in people aged 75 or over. It's uncommon in people under 40 years of age. Her mum and sisters got busy organising and they booked the first available date at Stroud Register Office. When Countryfile presenter Adam Henson's partner was given a devastating diagnosis by doctors, the couple who had been together for more than two decades decided the time was right to get married. Charlie had developed what they thought was a stomach bug over Christmas 2020, but they weren't overly worried. However, Adam and Charlie were told that only two percent of pancreatic cancer is neuroendocrine and, even if it was, the size and positioning of the tumour made it difficult to operate on. If it was not neuroendocrine, then all they could do was offer palliative care. Charlie chose to delay her operation by a week as the doctor said it wouldn't make much difference. This allowed them to have "the most wonderful day". Adam remembered their wedding day fondly: "Charlie wore an ivory dress and looked beautiful. When I saw her walking in on the arm of her mum, I had to struggle to hold it together. Everyone knew that she was going into hospital the next day and it was very emotional. But we also tried very hard not to think of what was hanging over us."

Having children with Adam was our commitment to each other," she says. "A wedding had never been important. Now, suddenly, it was the most important thing in the world. It’s ridiculous but I really, really wanted everyone to know how much I love Adam; most importantly, I wanted him to know. It was suddenly such a big thing." Pancreatic cancer is caused by the abnormal and uncontrolled growth of cells in the pancreas, a large gland that's part of the digestive system. She was booked in for surgery for September 10 and the day before the couple were joined by their closest friends and relatives – who knew of Charlie’s condition – at Stroud Register Office. We were both stunned," Charlie recalled. "It is hard to blame medical professionals who deal with life or death every day, but when they deliver a statement like that, so matter-of-factly, the effect is devastating." Charlie revealed that she was unable to walk after the registrar "dropped that bomb", with Adam having to carry her down the corridor of Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. Due to Covid restrictions, Adam wasn't allowed in with her when she had to have blood taken.Charlie's recovery is ongoing, and she has to take Creon with every meal, along with blood thinners and supplements. The family lives in anticipation of her "one six-monthly scan to the next". Charlie admitted that getting a scan is "terrifying", and she starts feeling anxious a couple of months before. Charlie went on her own to the scan because Covid restrictions were still in place, and she says that before going in she had a "terrible foreboding feeling".

It's important to remember that these symptoms can be caused by many different conditions and are not usually the result of cancer. Join the UK's most-loved farmer, Adam Henson, on a fascinating journey around the farm. In this interactive non-fiction book, with over 40 flaps, you can discover where food comes from, peek inside a combine harvester, and uncover incredible facts about popular farm animals. The next day, they said their tearful goodbyes as Charlie went in for her Whipple procedure. Adam felt "helpless" watching her walk into the hospital alone due to restrictions. The operation involved removing parts of the pancreas, gall bladder and duodenum. Adam was told that if anything went wrong during Charlie's operation, he would be called to the hospital immediately. So, when he got a call at 4.30pm saying it had gone well and his wife was "stable and in recovery", he was relieved. Two weeks after coming home, Charlie could walk half a mile, which made her feel "in control again". "I remember going out one day when it was raining heavily, and it was like the most life-affirming thing I have ever done," she remembered. "I didn't care about getting soaking wet I was alive!"

It took no time for Adam to agree. “I said ‘yes’, of course!” he says. The couple gave the cancer news in vague, unscary terms, to their two children – Ella, 25, now travelling in New Zealand, and Alfie, 21, who works in an investment company. Charlie then had to book more appointments and tests, eventually telling Adam when he rang her from the airport to tell her he was on his way home, with the presenter then embarking on what felt like a "very long flight home". The pair were told at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital that it was definitely cancer, but there was a possibility that it was a neuroendocrine tumour, a rare, slow-growing type of cancer.