Ok so I'm sure you know... but in case you don't, my mom died of pancreatic cancer more than 4 years ago. In the time since then, I've learned a lot about this disease and have dedicated a portion of my time to trying to fight the fight against it. That includes informing the public - including doctors, patients, and the general public; trying to inform elected representatives about the disease and encourage them to increase federal funding to support finding a cure; and helping to raise money for the direct support of curing this disease.
(my mom.... um, before she died... with Z!)
In Tucson, I worked with a national group and ran a local chapter. When I moved here, I joined the local chapter but in more of a background role. After a year here of doing nothing, they switched up the way it was going here and I'm now leading the group again with another gal.
(the group I work with - http://www.pancan.org/)
We had our first event tonight. We were a part of the Chandler Art Walk, which is held the first Wednesday of every month in downtown Chandler. One of the regular artists (Troy) was recently diagnosed with stage IV cancer and so the group dedicated the night to him and he asked us to share in that.
(Troy, the artist facing this fight)
We had a table set up with flyers and balloons and just spent the evening mingling and trying to talk to people about pancreatic cancer. This can be a very hard thing to do. So at some point, I determined that I would just try to hand out purple ribbons. It doesn't matter if people wear them or not, at least they stopped long enough to glance at our really fancy purple table cloth with the words "Pancreatic Cancer Action Network" on it. Maybe it will stick with them and if they or someone they know need it, they can come looking for us. Some took it and kept walking, others actually stopped. Almost everyone that did stop knew of someone who had died of it. It's so sad.
(purple ribbon... you want one? It's for pancreatic cancer... 4th leading cause of cancer death in the US... research at the same level as breast cancer in the 1950's...)
Then it got really fun. Z was there with me and I admit, he was a bit bored. He had been digging in some rocks looking for an ant to be a friend (yes, he does have normal human friends) when he noticed what I was doing. He totally wanted in on that. So he started handing them out and asking pretty much every person that walked by if they would like a purple ribbon. One lady thought he was holding a bug and she really freaked out. It was really fun! He was so excited about it and into it. I had explained to him that I was there because I didn't want other people to get sick and die like my mom did and he really seemed to take it to heart. What a sweet and loving little boy I have. He made the night wonderful!
(you read it, stand up)
Another funny side note. The gal I'm doing this with is about my dad's age and she lost her husband to this. So she was there with us tonight as well (in fact - she did all the table set up and stuff! She's awesome!) Well at one point, we had this guy come along who smelled of alcohol but was insisting that he was a gastrointestinal doctor and that he could give either one of us a biopsy right there, with his eyes closed. He said he was a photographer but did doctor stuff on the side. One polite smile from her and he had a duffle bag out of no where with all his photography stuff spread out all over our table. I felt bad at the end of the night slipping off early to get Z into bed and leaving her with her new "boyfriend" but she's tough and I think she handled it just fine.
It was a good night. Sad to see Troy looking sick and hearing the slur in the voice that seems to accompany those with severe illnesses. But glad to be out with my boy, doing something in honor of my mom, just trying to make a difference and maybe helping make it possible for someone else, somewhere, to not have to die of this particular form of death.
(keep the memory alive... yeah... jazz hands)
