Swimming for a Cause
- Former professional swimmer Elizabeth Beisel announced the death of her father from stage four pancreatic cancer. She’s doing a charity swim event this summer in his honor to raise money for cancer research and clinical trials.
- Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive disease that is difficult to detect because symptoms including jaundice and weight loss typically present at a later stage in the cancer's development.
- After losing a loved one to cancer, sadness is not always a bad thing. It can be used as a motivator or even a source of inspiration like in Beisel’s case for her charity swim event this summer.
Beisel retired in 2017 with three world championships medals, including the 400 IM gold in 2011, and two Olympic medals under her belt. But just because she’s stopped competing, does not mean she’s done swimming for a purpose greater than herself. This summer on August 30, Beisel is going to swim 12.4 miles from her home coast of Rhode Island to Block Island for the Block Cancer charity event. In a promo video for the event, she announced that “Together with Swim Across America, 100 percent of funds raised by Block Cancer will be donated to cancer research and clinical trials.”
“He was surrounded by the ones who loved him most and fought until the very last breath he took. I wrestled back and forth with posting something so personal about him, but as far as I'm concerned, this incredible man deserves to be celebrated far and wide,” she wrote. “Since his diagnosis in December, my dad endured months of treatments, sleepless nights, and debilitating pain, but always with a vibrant smile on his face. He never once complained, and even on his weakest, most vulnerable days when he was curled up in tears, all he wanted was to simply ‘feel better again.'”View this post on Instagram
She also revealed that he was “the entire reason behind Block Cancer” something she previously kept private because he wanted to keep that information between them.
“When I asked him if he wanted me to share his story with the world, he humbly responded ‘Elizabeth, Block Cancer isn't for me – it's for everyone fighting cancer,'” she wrote. “That was exactly the type of man he was. Always sacrificing, putting others first, and never wanting attention. I know that my dad's battle along with the money raised by Block Cancer will save someone's life one day, and he's smiling knowing he gifted someone and their family the most precious gift of all time.”
She left her followers with a solemn reminder to “never take anything for granted” and “hug your loved ones tight as you can.”
“He was our world, and our family will quite simply never be the same,” she wrote. “Time is never guaranteed… I would do anything for one last hug with the man I love most.”
Pancreatic Cancer Detection
Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive disease that is difficult to detect because symptoms including jaundice and weight loss typically present at a later stage in the cancer's development. In a previous interview with SurvivorNet, Dr. Anirban Maitra, the co-leader of the Pancreatic Cancer Moon Shot at MD Anderson Cancer Center, explains what he typically sees when patients develop this disease.
"Because the pancreas is inside the abdomen often doesn't have symptoms that would tell you that something is wrong with your pancreas," he says. "By the time individuals walk into the clinic with symptoms like jaundice, weight loss, back pain or diabetes, it's often very late in the stage of the disease."
Detecting Pancreatic Cancer Early Is Crucial
Dr. Maitra added that about 53,000 patients get pancreatic cancer in the United States each year, and the prognosis is not always great.
"And unfortunately, most will die from this disease within a few months to a year or so from the diagnosis," Dr. Maitra said.
Parents, siblings and children of someone with pancreatic cancer are considered high risk for developing the disease because they are first-degree relatives of the individual. PGVs (pathogenic germline variants) are changes in reproductive cells (sperm or egg) that become part of the DNA in the cells of the offspring. Germline variants are passed from parents to their children, and are associated with increased risks of several cancer types, including pancreatic, ovarian and breast cancers. Germline mutations in ATM, BRCA1, BRCA2, CKDN2A, PALB2, PRSS1, STK11 and TP53 are associated with increased risk of pancreatic cancer.
Jessica Everett, a genetic counselor at NYU Langone's Perlmutter Cancer Center, encourages people in this category to look into possible screening options.
"If you're concerned about pancreatic cancer in your family, start by talking to a genetic counselor to learn more about your risk and what options you have," Everett said.
Losing a Parent to Cancer
Grief is a complex emotion. It can come in waves and there’s right or wrong way to process the event of losing a parent to cancer. Particularly when the loss comes at a younger age, the sadness can really linger. But that doesn’t have to always be a bad thing. In a previous interview with SurvivorNet, Camila Legaspi explains how she lost her mother to breast cancer when she was in high school. She struggled for a long time but eventually was able to turn that immense sense of loss into inspiration.
Sadness Is Not Always A Bad Thing Coping After Losing A Parent To Cancer
"I actually took this sadness and let it motivate me," Camila told SurvivorNet. "I learned that it's OK to be sad sometimes. It's OK to carry sadness with you… it's not always a bad thing. It makes you who you are and it gives you a story to tell and it helps you teach other people to cope with their sadness."
Like her mother, Camila is a very creative person. She turned to writing as an outlet for her emotions and used her mother's creativity as a motivator. When she went to Princeton, she got involved with the school's magazine and explored her feelings of loss as inpiration for poetry, fiction or whatever else she was inclined to write.
"I've learned to have it impact me in a positive way and have it not just be a sad story… instead, I'm using it for a better purpose," Camila said.
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