Pancreatic cancer
I’ve been thinking a lot about the news of actor Patrick Swayze’s pancreatic cancer.
I don’t know why, really.
I enjoy his work, he seems like he’d be fun to hang out with, but I don’t know him.
I think it’s the concept of pancreatic cancer that has my mind. It’s a horrible cancer to get, and, there are so many people affected by it. Many times, it’s a fast, aggressive cancer, and, people can (but not always) die of it within weeks.
My doctor died of it, our parish priest died of it this past fall, and, I follow the story of Randy Pausch who’s living with it.
It could happen to anyone, and, despite all our medical advances, there’s really not a lot that can be done for it.
That boggles my mind.
My hair dresser died from this after fighting it for almost 2 years, an unheard of length of time to survive this type of cancer. She was 42.
The problem with pancreatic cancer is that by the time you have symptoms, the disease has spread. The pancreas acts as a gland for digestion which means it secretes a liquid that travels in your body to help you absorb the good. In Cancer, this secretion can also spread cancer cells. While there have been some advances in prolonging life with pancreatic cancer, and actually having some good quality of life, it is a killer. You can live with it but almost never is there a remission that lasts for any length of time. Michael Landon also died of this disease.
I think when celebrities get these diseases, we feel as though we know them personally. It strikes a cord in each of us. Sad. I wish him and all those with any type of cancer, the very best.
The bad thing (well other than the fact that it can/will eventually kill out), is that so far there is apparently no “early detection” for this, and most of the early symptoms are easily passed off as something else, leading to it being ignored until it is already in advanced stages.
My guess, with Patrick Swayze, more than some Hollywood elite, is he seems more (I hate to use this term, but it fits) “real” His ups (Dirty Dancing, Ghost, Point Break) and downs (Tiger Warsaw, Too Wong Foo). Like you said, he “seems” like a guy you would want to hang out and talk with.
Sad, very sad.
This has had me in a deep period of thought and reflection as well.
It seems like such a cruel way to go – or live.
I was wondering if anyone can answer this for me, my mother in law died of pancreatic cancer when my husband was 4 years old. Can he get this disease as well since it was his natural mother that had the disease. So far, so good but his immune system is low all the time.