World Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Day
PANCREATIC CANCER AWARENESS DAY
Every year, the 3rd Thursday of November is celebrated as pancreatic cancer(PC) awareness day. PC is an aggressive form of cancer that develops in the tissues of the pancreas. Every day, worldwide approx. 1-2k people are diagnosed with PC.
Despite substantial improvements in other major cancer survival rates, PC survival rates are still low. PC is usually detected at an advanced stage which makes most treatment options ineffective. Therefore, the more we spread awareness, the earlier it is diagnosed, increasing the chance for beneficial treatment.
Symptoms include -
- Abdominal pain
- Unexplained weight loss
- Jaundice
- Mid back pain
- Changes in stool
- Indigestion
I lost my father to Pancreatic cancer last year. On one of his routine checks in 2017, my dad was diagnosed with PC. Since it wasn't at an advanced stage, surgery and chemotherapy was an option. We immediately made arrangements for him to undergo the surgery with the best doctor in town. The surgery is called 'Whipple's Procedure', a complex surgery to treat pancreatic tumors. After spending a month recovering, he was advised to undergo chemotherapy to minus the risk of reoccurrence. My father recovered completely and spend the next year being a wonderful healthy dad. Unfortunately, in autumn 2018, once again on his routine tests, we discovered the cancer reoccurred and had spread to his liver, because it was already in an advanced stage, we could not get him any beneficial treatment. Over time, the symptoms worsened. My dad was a warrior and fought throughout the year. He passed in September 2019 due to the failure of multiple organs.
I want to take this opportunity to use this platform to spread awareness about Pancreatic cancer and I hope you do too.
