Hi, my name is Debbie, and I live in Lake Havasu City, AZ.

In early 2025, I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer with involvement of a major vein. The tumor was small and at the head of the pancreas, so I would have expected this to be operable. After 12 full rounds of aggressive chemotherapy, I was told I was not eligible for surgery due to the vein involvement, which would require a vein resection. Next step was 25 treatments of radiation (daily, 5 days a week). I was again told I was not eligible for surgery due to the vein.

In the meantime, I contacted various pancreatic support groups and learned of a surgeon in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who has done this type of surgery many times with success. I contacted this doctor and sent all my medical records for his review. The excellent news is he is going to do the surgery. This surgery is my only hope to be cured. While this is great news, I will have to go to Milwaukee for surgery along with a caregiver and live there for a minimum of 5 weeks. This is going to be extremely expensive, and I could use some help in raising funds for this life-saving surgery.