Most people know someone, or are friends of someone or friends of a friend with someone who had or is battling cancer. For those of you who are currently or have experienced a close loved one battle cancer, you know better than most how horrible it really is.
November, right before thanksgiving I received a phone call from my mother one day, and I heard the news that my nana had been diagnosed with cancer. Pain, tears, weird breathing, head spinning, every emotion just ran through me. You never think these things can happen to you or someone you love, until it does. When it does, it hits and it hits hard.
My grandmother had been to several doctors explaining pain she had and no one had caught the cancer. She had then been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that had metastasized and spread to her blood and lymph nodes, virtually every inch of her body covered. They missed cancer. They left it untreated and it consumed her and you want to know the truth about pancreatic cancer? It eats you away, fast, and you die.
In 2015, according to the national cancer center, 48,960 new cases of pancreatic cancer are expected to occur and 40,560 deaths are expected. Guess what. The chances of survival are minimal. Pancreatic cancer is the most aggressive type of cancer leaving only a 2-percent, five-year survival rate if found too late. For my grandmother it was too late.
Saying goodbye to a loved one knowing it was the last time you would is like staring death in the face and accepting it. That goodbye and that next kiss and that next hug will be the last time you would see or feel their touch again. At that moment you become weak. No one wants to let go, but that is exactly what needed to happen. At that moment they are dead before they are really gone.
Denial hit my whole family, it soon became like caring for a small child. Every piece of food she ate was a huge victory that many applauded, every day she looked a little better than the last. Chemo sessions were done in hopes that maybe somewhere the chemo would zap her back to normal. That the next time you woke up she was already up walking around by herself at the crack of dawn like usual. However, the next time you woke up was always a terrifying event. Did you hear her breathe? Was she moving? For about 2 and a half months the answer was yes. She continued to get up and live life and really that's all anyone could ask for.
Approximately 2.5 months was all it had taken.
Two and a half months until there was a Friday that everything went South. Two and a half months turned into two days. Sunday morning came and everyone's fears became reality.
Again, cancer had claimed another life, she now become another statistic to add to the cancer website. What the cancer website fails to tell you is that those 40,560 people they expect to die are not just statistics. They are someones mom, dad, brother, sister, grandparent, someones life. Those 40,560 people mean so much more than a number to add to their website. Those people, each and everyone of them, has impacted a life in one way or another. They are the memories of summer time in the sun with them. They are the best cooks you knew, the pasta you can taste in your mouth every time you mention their name. They are the inside jokes you had with them and the love they shared with you. They are the good times and all of the laughs you shared with them. They are beautiful people that deserve to be recognized by more than just a number.
Cancer is gut wrenching and life changing. It steals your loved ones without remorse or sympathy. Cancer doesn't care about your feelings or how much you love that person. The only thing cancer cares about is how many pieces it breaks your heart in.
If you're interested in learning more about Pancreatic cancer please visit the foundation's website.
