Looking back on October 2024, we all remember all of the many advertisements and Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We were surrounded with pink and pink ribbons which bring a great deal of awareness to the cause and serve as a reminder to get a yearly mammogram.
However, it’s now November, a different month with a different color and another cancer awareness month. November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month and the color is purple. Unfortunately, there is no early screening for pancreatic cancer.
I’ve been advocating for pancreatic cancer awareness since October 4, 2007, which is the day that my 38-year old brother passed away from pancreatic cancer. Until he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, just 18 months earlier, all I knew about cancer was the pink ribbon, because cancer didn’t apply to my family. Because there is no early screening for pancreatic cancer, my brother was misdiagnosed several times, all the while his cancer was spreading.
When someone says to me, “I don’t know anyone with pancreatic cancer,” I say, “Until March 2006, I didn’t either.” You never know when pancreatic cancer will affect your family; it sure caught our family by surprise, and our lives have never been the same.
Just this year, pancreatic cancer claimed the lives of West Virginia Major League Baseball Player Doug Creek, “Days of our Lives” actor and former New York Yankee Drake Hogestyn, and Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. This type of cancer also claimed the lives of actor dancer Patrick Swayze, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Apple Founder Steve Jobs, and the “Queen of Soul,” Aretha Franklin. “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” actress Kitty Swink is a 16-year pancreatic cancer survivor.
By the end of 2024, an estimated 66,440 Americans will have been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the United States, and more than 51,750 people will have died. Pancreatic cancer has surpassed breast cancer and is now the third leading cause of cancer related-death. Each day, 181 people are diagnosed with this terrible disease.
November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, and it would be great if we could see just half the purple in November than that of pink in October. Specifically, Thursday, November 21 is World Pancreatic Cancer Day sponsored by the World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition. Everyone can join in, just by wearing purple. Let’s turn the world purple for just one day!
Since I have been volunteering for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, the 5-year survival rate has risen from 5 percent to 13 percent. This is not nearly enough! We must all work together with our elected officials to increase federal funding for pancreatic cancer research.
This starts by raising awareness — even if it’s just wearing purple for just one day! I’m asking everyone who reads this to learn more about pancreatic cancer: go to www.pancan.org , and remember, wear purple on Thursday, November 21!
Annette Fetty-Santilli
Clarksburg, WV
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Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.