Pancreat Cancer Awareness Month

November is Pancreat Cancer awareness Month. I don't really need it much to help me stay aware of it.

I was diagnosed on May 13, 2007. That year, 37,000 other people got the same bad news. And here's the thing - 36,000 of them died. I have had it so good for so long. For most people that get diagnosed, the cancer has been growing for some long while with no symptoms, growing in an area of the pancreas that doesn't cause any issues that they notice. Mine fortunately made me very ill right away - I remember Kathy nominating me for the show "What not to Wear" because of the yellow sweater I wore to Easter dinner clashing with my skin color. But these others get diagnosed with a huge tumor that involves some major arteries and is inoperable. For many, despite the 'state of the art' treatment, it means they last no more than 2 to 6 months.

And there's the rub. Pancreat Cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer related deaths, and yet recieves relatively little research dollars. It has been receiving a little more press lately - Randy Pausch was a great spokesman, Patrick Swayze is on a newly experimental drug and doing remarkably well, and Luciano Pavarotti went through a number of operations and treatment options before losing his battle.

Meanwhile, I spoke with Chemo Kaufman on Friday night at about 10 PM (Trick or treat?) and told him that I wanted to start radiation therapy and concurrent chemo therapy as soon as possible. We discussed three possible chemo routines. He's researching over the weekend and I've specified an aggressive progressive regime. So we'll see what he comes up with and decide on Monday. I emailed the radiation oncologist, Dr Lampenfield, and asked him to get me in for the aiming CT scan as soon as possible and we'll speak on Monday about that appointment.

I wonder how many people were diagnosed this last week and didn't get to sweat over these choices. Or how many others are sitting at home without any hope because they're under insured or maybe have no insurance -I'm pretty well insured and this time around the battle will cost another $4000 and some amount of upset to work for both Vicki and I.

And I thank with all my heart all those researchers working everyday to improve the chances of folks like me. I talked to Meg and Jeanine, two clinical trial RN contacts, this week while looking for trials and I couldn't have wished for more genuinely gentle and empathic people. And I sing the praises (a metaphor - no singing for real) of all those people that run marathons, walk relays, have bakesales or whatever to raise money for cancer research, no matter what kind it is.

Thanks for checking, I'll keep you posted.

Ask Congress to get ready for our 2009 pancreat cancer legislation and prepare to co-sponsor this bill in the new Congress!

1. ACTION ALERT! Ask your U.S. Representative to co-sponsor the National Plan to Advance Pancreatic Cancer Research Act in 2009! Let’s get started early by educating Congress about this potentially life-saving legislation and getting them fired up about it now! Click here to Take Action!

Be sure to use the Tell a Friend feature on any of the Action Alerts above to ask your friends and family to join you in turning our message into a pancreatic cancer advocacy movement!