Supporting Our Mom's Stage 3 Pancreatic Cancer Fight

Hi <3

My sister Laura and I write this with a heavy heart, knowing all too well where our family has found ourselves once again, touched by a parent with cancer. If you know us, you know we lost our father to kidney cancer at a very young age. The likelihood of both of our parents being touched by this disease is heartbreaking to say the least. But, we know many experience the same news, same grief, same devastation that a cancer diagnosis brings - so we're reaching out for support from a community we have both supported and relied on over the years.

Our mom was diagnosed (by chance, after being admitted to the ER for another concern) with stage 3 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma back in January of this year. As some of you may know, a pancreatic tumor often shows no symptoms until later stage & is quite complicated to treat. It was the biggest blessing to have found this when we did, ironically while looking for answers to symptoms for another growth with a benign biopsy, only to find this growth with a more devastating diagnosis. Nonetheless, we believe this to be a blessing.

Not only did we catch this tumor when we did, we were so relieved to hear surgery was an option as a first step, and while there were complications (including the removal of more of the pancreas than planned, bleeding due to the tumors location around a blood vessel) mom responded very well to the procedure. They removed a large portion of her pancreas as well as her spleen. Her recovery was lengthy and painful, but she was able to make it to Brynne's wedding in Cabo this past week, which was beyond anything we could have asked for.

The tumor was 7.6 CM and the margins were all negative for carcinoma, with the exception of 4 lymph nodes. Given the aggressive form of cancer, the stage, and the impacted lymph nodes, chemotherapy is the next step on our mom's journey. She still has a long way to go, but doing so with a fresh tan from Cabo & a renewed spirit.

Given the diagnosis, mom had to retire early and has been struggling to pay for these treatments, even with insurance support. She requires medications to supplement her digestive enzymes lost due to her partial pancreas removal and chemotherapy for the next 5 months.

We're hoping to help support her medical bills and offer her a comfort of knowing she can rest while fighting this disease. Any bit helps, even a phone call, a ride to chemo, a cup of soup and some company.

We love & appreciate you all <3