CONTACT US
Dr. Karen Pierce (second from the left) with friends at PanCAN PurpleStride Chicago 2024.
Dr. Karen Pierce is one of PanCAN’s biggest cheerleaders.
She first connected with PanCAN when her mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer more than 20 years ago. Before her mom’s passing, they participated in PanCAN PurpleStride events together and raised funds for research and patient support. Karen saw PanCAN as an important resource during that time.
That’s why Karen knew to contact PanCAN when her husband, Dr. Carey Weiss, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2019 — and she’s incredibly grateful she did.
Karen says she feels Carey lived a year longer than expected because of a doctor they found through a PanCAN Patient Services Case Manager.
And years later, when scans found 13 cysts on her pancreas, Karen knew where to turn. She is currently being monitored through a clinical trial found by another Patient Services Case Manager and is officially out of the high-risk category for pancreatic cancer.
Karen says her Case Manager helped her ask Carey’s doctors the right questions when he was diagnosed and when she first found out about her cysts. Carey and Karen both had genetic testing and were comforted knowing their children wouldn’t be at greater risk for the disease.
“Pancreatic cancer is a terrible disease. It’s a terrible way to die. But I love this organization,” Karen says.
According to Karen, what she finds so special about PanCAN is the holistic, comprehensive approach taken to ending the disease.
Karen appreciates that PanCAN funds research that could offer patients better treatment options and provides free resources and information through Patient Services. She contacts her members of Congress every time she receives an advocacy email, because she knows how important federal research funding is. And she continues to take steps at and fundraise for PurpleStride, the ultimate walk to end pancreatic cancer.
It’s why Karen is a proud donor — because she believes in furthering PanCAN’s mission to take bold action to improve the lives of everyone impacted by pancreatic cancer. Karen maximizes her impact on patients and families by making donations via stock to support research and patient-facing programs, especially at the end of the year.
Karen loved the resources that had been so helpful to her during her mom and husband’s cancer journey and her own journey with pancreas cysts, so she gives to help make sure that others can access them, too.
She applauds PanCAN’s new patient handouts, calling them “wonderful.” She thinks the databases available are “incredible.” To her, Patient Services is “phenomenal.”
“You don’t find another organization with that depth and breath,” she says.
Karen is helping unite the pancreatic cancer community and push every boundary to create a world where survival is the norm — not the exception. And it’s caring and committed people like her — and you — who bring PanCAN’s mission to life.
Thank you for believing that progress is possible.
