Maybe there is hope, given the good news recently released about the health of beloved Jeopardy host Alex Trebek.
He is responding well to treatment for his stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
In the past several months, pancreatic cancer has taken the mother of someone I know, and someone I knew of as a great advocate for eldercare issues in our community. I got to meet her less than a year before her death.
Alex Trebek gives much of the credit for his cancer shrinking to the millions of people who have been praying and thinking of him. But prayer is not enough. We must help ourselves.
Pancreatic cancer, and other "rare" cancers needs to be "brought up to speed". This cancer needs to have some type of early detection, the way breast cancer and cervical cancer have. It needs publicity. It needs marathons. All cancers need funding. It is true that pancreatic cancer is only about 3% of cancer diagnoses in our country. But isn't it strange that, for its 3% rate, so many of us seem to know someone who has had it.
Yes, having had three relatives die from this cancer (my late aunt was the youngest), makes it personal. While the survival rates for some cancers have (thankfully) increased, the rates for pancreatic cancer have not.
I do wish recovery for all patients with this dread cancer, whether or not they have extensive support systems. And I am cautiously optimistic about Trebek, because I also know how quickly good news can turn to bad when it comes to cancer.
I seriously want him to return to Jeopardy for season 36 in September.
I want purple (the color symbolizing pancreatic cancer) to be the color of hope. Besides hopes and prayers, what can we do to make it happen?
Excellent post about a very important subject.
ReplyDeleteIt's a hard one as there are no symptoms, right? Hopefully an early detection will be figured out sooner rather than later.
ReplyDeleteI want Trebek to be the host forever but if the cancer does win, who will be the next host?
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