November is . . .

Pancreatic Cancer Awareness month.

I stole an article from this site. Allow me to share it with you . . .

Pancreatic cancer is the only cancer tracked by the American Cancer Society and National Cancer Institute with a five-year relative survival rate still in the single digits. At 6 percent, the survival rate for pancreatic cancer has not improved substantially in 40 years.

"The incidence of pancreatic cancer has been on the rise since 1998 and experts predict the upward trend to continue, with a 55 percent increase in pancreatic cancer cases by 2030," said Julie Fleshman, president and CEO of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. "During National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month and beyond we must work together to know, fight and end this deadly disease to save the lives of tens of thousands of Americans in the future.

Pancreatic cancer was recently thrust into the spotlight once again with the passing of technology industry icon Steve Jobs, Nobel Prize winning research scientist Ralph Steinman, MD, and "pianist to the presidents" Roger Williams – all within days of each other. Through the years, this deadly disease has claimed the lives of other luminaries including actors Patrick Swayze and Michael Landon, Carnegie Mellon University Professor and The Last Lecture author Randy Pausch, PhD, and opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti.

But mostly, pancreatic cancer affects the lives of everyday Americans: mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends and colleagues. This year, more than 44,000 Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and nearly 38,000 will die from it. In fact, 74 percent of patients die within the first year of their diagnoses because the disease is typically caught at a late stage. There are no early detection tools and few effective treatment options exist.

Two percent of the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) federal research funding is allocated to pancreatic cancer. The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is urging the public to Volunteer for Progress by taking simple actions that can make a big difference in the fight against the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. The actions include volunteering with a local affiliate of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, participating in events such as PurpleStride or PurpleLight National Vigil for Hope, or contacting their members of Congress to gain their support for more pancreatic cancer research funding.

Who wants to throw up after reading that? I do, I do! I want to throw up because I know those statistics personally. To me, they have names. They have faces. They have families. They have friends.

I subscribe to a pancreatic cancer email list. It is a wonderful little community of patients and caregivers supporting each other through the hardest journey of their lives. I've gotten multiple emails from them each week for the last year. And each week, there is more bad news. Someone else has a recurrence. Someone else's treatment plan fails. Someone else isn't eligible for surgery. Someone else goes on hospice. Someone else dies. When I read the statistics mentioned in the above article, I think of these people. They have names. They have faces. They have families. They have friends. 

And as the daughter of one of those statistics with a name, a face, a family, and lots of friends, I have a request that is not much different from the one I made last year. Do something to help. Visit www.knowitfightitendit.org. Click on the links provided to sign up to be a volunteer for progress or learn how to advocate for more research funding. Write to your members of Congress and ask them to co-sponsor the Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act (I'm very proud to say that one of the senators I wrote to last year has since co-sponsored the bill. I'm sure it was because of the life-changing letter I sent him). Donate to www.pancan.org or buy something cute from their store. Pray for a cure.

Speaking of praying, it's Monday. Don't forget to pray for Trish. ; )


ETA: Our friend Kathy (technically our friend LeAn's sister-in-law whom we've never met) needs your prayers. She's also fighting pancreatic cancer and today received the discouraging news that her current treatment plan has stopped working. Please be in prayer for Kathy and her doctors as they try to determine the next steps to take, and pray for God's power and healing to be shown in Kathy's life!