Pancreatic Cancer awareness
Donation protected
Hello! If you don't know me, I'm Ellie Fruhauf, I'm 23 year old infant teacher and I'm currently living in Italy. I've started a GoFundMe page as an easy way to raise awareness and donate money to the Spanish Association of Pancreatic Cancer. Here's our story...
On the 24th of April I was on holiday here in Alicante, Spain, where I grew up and my mom still lives. I accompanied my mom into hospital because she had a bad stomach ache and felt bloated. At first we were told she had mild pancreatitis (irritation of the pancreas) which can be caused by many different things. After a week in hospital, and many tests (including a gastroscopy, MRI and CT scans) which all came back negative, she was told that she would go for one last test to be sure there was nothing ominous.
And sure enough, during this endoscopy ultrasound they found a little tumour squatting in my mom's pancreatic duct. A biopsy was taken and we had to wait, eventually to be told that yes, it is cancer. All of that just from a sore tummy!
Currently my mom is hospitalised, and waiting for surgery (a "whipple procedure") this Wednesday the 29th of May, three days after her 60th birthday. We're still not sure what the next steps will be regarding chemotherapy and follow up treatments, but we'll keep everyone posted.
The reason we want to raise money for the Spanish Association of Pancreatic Cancer is because the level of care that has been issued to my mom over the past month has been incredible. I find it hard to believe that in the UK she would have been kept for that extra "just to be sure" scan which turned out to be the most important.
Pancreatic cancer is known as the "silent killer" as symptoms are subtle (like indigestion!) and usually not presented until it's at an advanced stage. In 2018, 432,242 adults died from pancreatic cancer worldwide.
We want to raise awareness so that people can catch this type of cancer early and have the best chance of living a normal life after treatment. We are aiming to raise as much money as possible to donate solely to the foundation (just to make it clear, this is absolutely NOT going towards me, my mom or her treatment) so that they can continue working on new treatments, facilities and research.
We are looking to take part and potentially host fundraising events over the next year, and any suggestions and collaborations are welcome.
Any donation, however small, is greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read our story!
Here is the link to the Spanish Association of Pancreatic Cancer: https://www.asociacioncancerdepancreas.org/
Ellie and family
On the 24th of April I was on holiday here in Alicante, Spain, where I grew up and my mom still lives. I accompanied my mom into hospital because she had a bad stomach ache and felt bloated. At first we were told she had mild pancreatitis (irritation of the pancreas) which can be caused by many different things. After a week in hospital, and many tests (including a gastroscopy, MRI and CT scans) which all came back negative, she was told that she would go for one last test to be sure there was nothing ominous.
And sure enough, during this endoscopy ultrasound they found a little tumour squatting in my mom's pancreatic duct. A biopsy was taken and we had to wait, eventually to be told that yes, it is cancer. All of that just from a sore tummy!
Currently my mom is hospitalised, and waiting for surgery (a "whipple procedure") this Wednesday the 29th of May, three days after her 60th birthday. We're still not sure what the next steps will be regarding chemotherapy and follow up treatments, but we'll keep everyone posted.
The reason we want to raise money for the Spanish Association of Pancreatic Cancer is because the level of care that has been issued to my mom over the past month has been incredible. I find it hard to believe that in the UK she would have been kept for that extra "just to be sure" scan which turned out to be the most important.
Pancreatic cancer is known as the "silent killer" as symptoms are subtle (like indigestion!) and usually not presented until it's at an advanced stage. In 2018, 432,242 adults died from pancreatic cancer worldwide.
We want to raise awareness so that people can catch this type of cancer early and have the best chance of living a normal life after treatment. We are aiming to raise as much money as possible to donate solely to the foundation (just to make it clear, this is absolutely NOT going towards me, my mom or her treatment) so that they can continue working on new treatments, facilities and research.
We are looking to take part and potentially host fundraising events over the next year, and any suggestions and collaborations are welcome.
Any donation, however small, is greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read our story!
Here is the link to the Spanish Association of Pancreatic Cancer: https://www.asociacioncancerdepancreas.org/
Ellie and family
Organizer
Ellie Fruhauf
Organizer
Bologna, Metropolitan City of Bologna
