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Volunteer Story: Karen Sharkey
In July of 1999 my father was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer. What little information I could find on the Internet didn’t give me much hope. My dad had been experiencing back and stomach pain for quite a while before his doctor was finally able to diagnose the real problem. Sadly, by then it was too late, and he passed away in October 1999. To further add to my dismay, my mom's sister, my aunt, who was like a mother to me, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2004. She bravely fought it for almost 2 years and then lost her battle as well. ...
Volunteer Story: Vicki Henricks
I knew very little about Pancreatic Cancer until the day the doctor informed us that my husband Mark was in stage 4 of pancreatic cancer. We had very little options at that point. He was only 47, we had been married for 23 years and had 2 daughter 14, and 19. Our world was never going to be the same again. We were in and out of hospitals and doctor's office searching for anything that could make a difference in the short time frame we had left. Mark was sick for 2 years before being diagnosed. Now that I am more...
Volunteer Story: Kristen Angell
This is not about me. It’s about my daughter Kristen, and, my husband, her dad, Ken. In January 2006 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. During my treatment, Kristen felt the need to "do something constructive" so she joined the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life. In 2007, as I celebrated my 1 year survivorship, my husband Ken was diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer. This made Kristen's resolve even stronger to fight cancer! During the course of 3 years, Kristen was responsible for raising $35,000 for the American Cancer Society’s Relay For...
Advocate, Volunteer and Survivor Story: Ralph Cheney
A local doctor told me I had an "undiagnosed obstruction" in the tail of my pancreas after two bouts of pancreatitis in the fall of 2004. Local doctors wanted to wait and re scan me in six months. My wife Mariann said, "No way." We went to a major center in New York with expertise in pancreas cancer. There a gastroenterologist known for his skill in performing Endoscopic Ultrasounds told us that he felt that it was a tumor and it could be malignant. He could not reach the tumor- but he had a hunch by looking at it that it was cancer. I had a distal pancreatectomy...
Volunteer Story: Dawn Lowery
Pancreatic cancer entered my life when my brother, Ryan Graham, was diagnosed 2 1/2 years ago at age 32. I never knew how serious pancreatic cancer was until that day. Thankfully, he was able to have the Whipple procedure in February 2007.. He then went through very aggressive treatments of chemo and radiation. Also during this time he was going through a divorce. He pushed through it all and remained a fighter. Planning my own wedding for that September my hope was that my brother would be well enough to attend my...
Advocate and Donor Story: Angus Mitchell
I lost my dad, Paul Mitchell, to pancreatic cancer in 1989 when he was only 53 years old and I was just 18. Although the world knew him as a legendary hair care industry entrepreneur, to me he was a very humorous, lighthearted and devoted father. An only child, I moved from New York City to Hawaii to live with him when I was 11, so we only had a few short years together. However, it was a wonderful time of my life. He had a loving energy and I always enjoyed being with him. I felt very comfortable and safe in his presence. ...
Volunteer Story: Brittany Black
Clyde Monday, my grandfather and a father figure to me, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on August 17, 2005: He died just 20 days later. In addition to being my best friend, he was my role model and the perfect family man. He died just 11 days before I turned 23.At the time of his diagnosis, he had stage IV pancreatic cancer. Like us, you may wonder why he was diagnosed at such a late stage of the disease. The reason is because there is no early detection method for pancreatic cancer. He had no chance of fighting this horrible disease because...
Volunteer Story: Maria Fisher
Deadly pancreatic cancer took the life of my beloved and beautiful 27-year-old daughter, Bridget, on January 9. 2007. Since then, my life and the lives of everyone who loved her have never been the same.She lived only eight months after she was diagnosed at stage IV with a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor. Sadly, she had to endure much pain and suffering before she passed.No early diagnostic tools are available yet for pancreatic cancer, the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths. Still, pancreatic cancer remains the least funded of all...
Volunteer Story: Jessica Cravero
My husband, Dr. John Cravero, lost his mother to pancreatic cancer in November 1999. When we first met in the summer of 2007, I could see the impact that the loss of his mom still had on him even 8 years after her passing, so I wanted to learn more about the disease so that I could have a better understanding of what his family had gone though. As we were getting to know each other, we talked a lot about his mom and what they had all experienced following her diagnosis and journey through the disease. When I later Googled pancreatic cancer to learn...
Volunteer Story: Greg Petrosewicz
My mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January of 2001. Doctors found it after they performed exploratory surgery because of excruciating lower back pain she was experiencing. The cancer was too widespread to operate. My father called me with choked-back tears and said that Mom had cancer. My oldest brother researched pancreatic cancer on the web and called me the following week. "It doesn't look good," he said. I will NEVER forget when he said that. In July of that year, I lost my mother and my closest confidante. I talked to...
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