Sister’s death from pancreatic cancer
inspires fight for awareness
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| Maggie Moser’s fight against pancreatic cancer ended three years ago today, Jan. 21. Her sister has taken up the flag in the battle against the disease. |
By Deb Kunkle
OELWEIN – January is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, and for at least one Oelwein woman not enough is being done to make people aware.
Bridget Frank has been on a mission to learn more about the disease and push for more awareness ever since her only sister, Maggie Moser, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
“She said they found a mass on her pancreas and there were a couple spots on her liver. The ultrasound revealed the tumor was larger than anticipated,” Bridget said, recalling the phone call from her sister in June 2005. “We cried. Then I went to the computer and started looking up anything I could find on that type of cancer. I didn’t know much about it.”
What Bridget found were sobering facts. Although pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. there are no early detection methods.
For Maggie it had been occasional stomach pain she thought was gas. Then there was weight loss and more stomach pains. While vacationing with her husband, Clark, and daughter, Shianne, in June 2005, they were forced to come home a couple days early due to the stomachaches. That’s when Maggie decided it might be something more serious and sought medical help.
Bridget said her sister fought the disease with extensive chemotherapy and also surgery. But the survival rate for those with pancreatic cancer is as sobering as the diagnosis itself. Approximately 75 percent die within the first year of diagnosis and the five-year survival rate is less than five percent.
Maggie died three years ago today, Jan. 21 — 19 months after the tumor was found. While she left a tremendous void in the lives of her family and many friends, her sister is determined more than ever to continue the fight for awareness and research.
Bridget referred to information from the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network that states from a scientific research perspective, the status of pancreatic cancer is where breast cancer was in the 1930s. At that time there were surgical procedures developed to fight both breast and pancreatic cancers. However, advances in mammography have evolved since the 1950s, while similar tools for pancreatic cancer still do not exist.
The fact that the survival rate for pancreatic cancer has not improved substantially over the past 25 years points to another fact that advancing pancreatic cancer research into this century depends on increasing basic science research.
Bridget says her push toward more awareness for pancreatic cancer research will continue until she sees more funding, both from government entities as well as corporate donors.
“Every time there is a bill before the House or Senate, I get an email to send a letter and email in support of pancreatic cancer research,” Bridget said. But she says waiting for government to respond is not enough and she is looking to multi-million-dollar corporations that donate to various research projects.
“Hopefully, I can convince them to expand their generosity to include pancreatic cancer research that will lead to awareness and early detection,” she said. “There are hundreds of advocates out there for hundreds of causes. But I can’t allow Maggie’s death to be just another statistic. Something good has to come from this.”
She says slowly, but surely, there has been increased funding and she hopes that it continues for a longtime. She said persons can get more information on pancreatic cancer from the website: http:/www.knowitfightitendit.org/learn_the_facts
“If one person learns something from this, it’s worth it,” she said.
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