43-Year-Old Non-Profit CEO Dedicated Her Life To Fighting Cancer, Then The Mission Actually Helped Saved Her

I can now look back, cancer-free, and feel an immense amount of gratitude for the more than two decades I have spent hyper-focused on improving outcomes for pancreatic cancer patients and for the breast cancer community that had been doing the hard work long before I was diagnosed. It was that one-two punch that allows me to be here today sharing my journey.

In 1999, my father passed from pancreatic cancer just four months after being diagnosed. He was not given any life-saving options and sadly, there was no hope for his recovery. I was mad and determined to change that experience for future patients. I discovered PanCAN soon after his diagnosis and turned that anger into action, Since then, I have spent my entire career advocating for better outcomes for pancreatic cancer patients.

And then, I became the patient. In 2018, at the age of 43, I was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer (Ductal carcinoma in situ) after a routine mammogram. I consider myself very fortunate because I knew from my work with PanCAN how lucky I was to have my cancer detected early before it could spread. And how important it is to understand your treatment options. And to find a specialist. I was thankful to the incredible breast cancer movement which enabled me to be so mindful about getting my yearly mammograms.

I was given options, including surgery, which I opted to do just a month after my diagnosis and it left me cancer-free. I also had genetic testing done standard for breast cancer patients to determine what treatments might be best for me and to understand my family's risk of certain kinds of cancer.

Luckily, I found out I do not have any of the genes currently connected to breast or pancreatic
cancer. With that experience, I am so incredibly grateful to the breast cancer advocates who had come before me and pushed for early detection and better treatments for breast cancer. I want the same for pancreatic cancer patients.

At PanCAN, we are fierce advocates about early detection. Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers with only an 11% five-year survival rate. It's the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the U.S. and on track to become the second leading cause. It's not easy to detect pancreatic cancer early because the location of the pancreas deep in the abdominal cavity hinders detection and the symptoms are vague. So sadly, the disease is often diagnosed too late, when the cancer has spread and surgery is not an option. Unlike the majority of breast cancer patients, most pancreatic patients are given little hope.

Detecting Pancreatic Cancer Early Is Crucial

There is still no screening test to detect pancreatic cancer early. It's heartbreaking to think that if only we could detect it earlier, more patients would be eligible for surgery to remove their tumors which would lead to significantly higher survival rates.

Once diagnosed, there are few treatment options. And because the disease is significantly more resistant to chemotherapy than other cancers, it can be difficult to treat in its later stages. Despite the fact that there is an urgent need for better outcomes for pancreatic cancer, research is often not prioritized because pancreatic cancer affects a relatively small population compared to other cancers, like breast cancer, and clinical research is risky due to the high failure rate.

This month, I am reminded that I'm not just the CEO of PanCAN I'm also a breast cancer survivor.

This experience reinforces my appreciation for patient advocacy especially the PanCAN Patient Services team who provide free resources to patients and healthcare professionals and can help anyone patients, their caregivers, friends and family navigate this journey.

The breast cancer community has inspired people from all over the world to stay up to date on their mammograms and to make sure they're aware of their family history. You can't go through October without seeing the color pink athletes wear pink uniforms to nationally broadcast games, the White House turns pink, and brands do their part by creating special pink merchandise all to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research.

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Breast Cancer Awareness Month sets the stage for November, which is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. Across the nation, pancreatic cancer advocates don the color purple in an effort to make the public aware of the disease so people can advocate for themselves and their health. I only hope that we can get to the same level of awareness as breast cancer, and that one day we'll have an early detection strategy for pancreatic cancer. I take notes from the community that not only inspired me but saved me, too.

This November, I hope the country will join me in raising awareness and funds for pancreatic cancer research. PanCAN is launching a nationwide campaign focusing on "Research for All of Us." We are encouraging the nation to get involved in the fight against pancreatic cancer by sharing inspiring stories that highlight the urgent need for more research and donating to support pancreatic cancer patients and their families. Awareness month for pancreatic cancer is important because it puts a spotlight on the disease and provides an opportunity to educate and engage the public.

I hope that our campaign will save lives and spread awareness like the breast cancer community did for me. As a CEO, a survivor, a caretaker and an advocate, I won't stop until our work is no longer needed. I feel an immense sense of purpose and gratitude for what brought me to this point the good, the bad, the tragic. All of it.

To learn more and donate, visit pancan.org.

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