June 1, 2014 my healthy 53 year old daddy had his first pain. At the ED, we heard the words that changed our lives forever “a mass on your pancreas”. The hospital took a biopsy and didn’t get any positive cells so they said they had mistakenly diagnosed this and it was pancreatitis. They sent him home with suggestions on how to prevent flair ups. In the 3 months after that, he was in pain on and off and we went to a bigger more specialized hospital where they did multiple ERCPs and a total of 7 tests before getting a positive cell. My boyfriend at the time walked into my parents house to ask for my hand in marriage about 5 minutes after the doctor called him to deliver the news of the positive cells. We traveled 2 hours away where in September 2014, he had the Whipple and vein resection done. The surgeon told us there was a 90% chance he would not make it. When this news was told to my dad, his response was I have a 10% chance. I can do this. A few weeks later, I got engaged and I knew I wanted to quickly get married because of his diagnosis. We got married in November 2014 and in the 2 months from my dads surgery to my wedding day, he lost so much weight and began to look so weak. March 2015, the ascites started and my dad started going to the hospital twice a week to get it drained. We knew this was bad but we didn’t give up fighting for him and with him. April 2015, he had blood in his stool and he went back to the hospital where the admitted him and eventually sent him home on hospice. A former college football player, 54 years old now on his death bed. We watched him waste away into nothing but bones. My brother, my mom, my husband, and I spent everyday soaking up every moment we could with him. On May 13, 2015 my daddy peacefully passed away with my mom, my brother, the hospice nurse, and myself by his side. I found out I was pregnant 2 weeks later and my daughter which would have been my dads first grandchild was born exactly 8 months after he passed. My brother is now married to my dads hospice nurse. Losing my dad at 24 years old shifted my life in a way I will never recover from. Pancreatic cancer took the strongest man I have ever known and if my story can help 1 person, I will be fulfilled in my life. Advocate for your loved ones, educate others on this awful disease!

My dad, Ron, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March 2021. He fought a tough battle before being taken from me September 1, 2021 due to Covid. He had just finished this first round of chemo and radiation treatments and we were waiting for him to get stronger before going to the next step (surgery or more treatments). He fought so hard and never once complained. I was blessed with a hero for 28 years who was a volunteer firefighter, worked for the county search and rescue, a deputy coroner and retired from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department. He is missed so much. 

I’ve been in the army for 25 years. I don’t smoke, drink, never any drugs, and always tried to stay healthy. However, on 14 April 2018 I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Just three days after my 40th birthday, I never expected something like this to happen. The doctor told me, and “I responded with at least it’s not going to kill me”. On the outside I was making a joke of it, mostly for my family to not know that I was deeply concerned. As a soldier, I’ve been to many places in the world, including war, so not many things scare me, but this is some thing I felt I had no control over. I didn’t know how to fight it. That was nerve-racking. Patrick Swayze and Steve Jobs were immediately on my mind quite a bit the first week. I thought to myself, both these guys had way more money/resources than I could possibly imagine, and they couldn’t beat it, so how will I? I also didn’t like that both Steve and Patrick withered away horribly. I didn’t want my family to experience the same, watching me become frail and then die. Shortly after the diagnosis I was told I could go through a Whipple procedure, with a risk of passing away during the procedure. I decided to have the surgery because I thought if I died during the procedure, it would be better for my family to remember me as I was. I didn’t want them to watch me fade like Steve Jobs, or especially Patrick. So May 17, 2018 I had the Whipple procedure. I did chemotherapy afterwards, so my weight went from 230 to 190 pounds. I became so weak, and I wasn’t used to it, as I’ve always been pretty strong/fit. My soldiers would call me Captain America all the time, pointing out that I even had the hair. Pancreatic cancer and the chemotherapy robbed me of my strength, and even today I’m still not 100%. I don’t know if I’ll ever be the way it was, but I do the best I can. I’m glad/grateful that I’m still here, but I can’t ignore the fact that I’m angry and I don’t know what my future will be, or how long it will be for that matter. I’m divorced, no children, but I do have a niece and nephews that I want to spend time with. I know the percentage of survivability is less than 10% for five years, but I don’t back down from a fight. I am at three years and four months, and I will be pushing past five years. I’m still in the military, but I realize that I have to let it go, as I’m not effective or an asset anymore. I joined the military because Starfleet didn’t exist LOL. I’ve always been a fan of Star Trek the next generation and Deep Space 9. I like the hope, optimism, and family environment that they portray. It’s amazing to me to find out that one of the Star Trek family has gone through and continues to fight the same thing that I do. I think people look at actors/stars as people who cannot be impacted by the realities of life, but that’s just not the case. We are all the same, we are all human, we are all family. I hope eventually our medical capabilities catch up to the science fiction of Star Trek TNG. Maybe then, as Leonard Nimoy says, we can all “live long and prosper”

I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in August of 2020, I had a 4 cm tumor removed as well as the tail of my pancreas and my spleen. I was told it was stage four adenocarcinoma which there is no cure. I am doing chemo and have very tiny spots that have not changed since November of 2020. I am. 55 with two daughters and three grandkids. I want to be here to watch those beautiful babies grow up, I want a cure found to kill this terrible disease.

In 1992 my mother was diagnosed with 
PC and died ten months later.  She was my best friend and such a wonderful mother and grandmother.  Almost 25 years later I was diagnosed with PC. Unlike my mothers my cancer was found early.  I have an exceptional gastroenterologist who at my first appointment LISTENED to me.  For some strange reason I always knew I would get the cancer that took my mothers life!  Having researched PC since my mothers death I learned about PC. When my blood work showed high levels of enzymes and a scan showed IPMNs I went into action!  I contacted John’s Hopkins Multidisciplinary Pancreatic Cyst Clinic. I was diagnosed with Stage One PC. Following surgery I had six months of chemo.  I am three years from my diagnosis and eternally grateful for the care and treatments I have received through Hopkins.  At one point in this journey my husband turned to me while at Hopkins and said he felt I was being guided and watched over because of the miracle of being diagnosed so early. I have a real chance to live a full life!  I faced my fears with knowledge about PC.  Early detection is the missing link in dealing with PC. So many dedicated professionals are working so hard to develop that step.  I hear over and over again that little is known about Stage One Survival because there are so few of us.  I am an almost rare statistic and I thank my mom for watching over me!  Thanks Mom, three years and counting!

I was diagnosed in nov 2017 with stage 2 pancreatic cancer. My tumor was in the tail and was surgically removed. I did 6 months of chemo. I had a reoccurrence 5 months after finishing chemo. An area in right part of abdomen. 18 treatment s later cancer free for 1 1/2 years. Reoccurrence in liver. Did sbrt radiation all good clear. Then an area popped up in my eg junction. Doing chemo again and radiation scheduled soon. I will never give up! 

I advocate for my amazing father Anthony Ray Bowers Sr. He was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in 2018, he did chemo but passed away January 31st of 2019 with his loved ones around him. I hope to hear/see about a cure for this disease soon so others do not have to suffer like my father and so many others have.