Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate of all major cancers, at just 9%. This deadly disease has stolen our mother & grandmother, but it can’t take away our determination to find early detection methods & most of all a cure! 

Team Whitcher Butterflies has stepped up to Wage Hope at PurpleStride Charlotte, the walk to end pancreatic cancer. 

Our family was first impacted by pancreatic cancer in 2002, when our grandmother was diagnosed in January 2002 and lost her battle a very short 2 1/2 months later in March 2002.

But unfortunately our connection to pancreatic caner did not end there...In July 2011, our mom began having pain in her side that she thought was a pulled muscle. Once she went to the doctor, it took a few visits, a CT scan, and a biopsy to determine that she had cancer. By September 2011, additional testing and procedures confirmed that mom had a 1 inch tumor in her pancreas that was inoperable. She completed a few rounds of chemo, but the cancer had already spread and the complications began to get worse. Our mom's battle with pancreatic cancer ended 7 months later in April 2012.

While doing some research during mom's battle, we came across the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network website. After her passing, we tried to figure out what we could do as a family to prevent this from happening again...how we could have an impact on the fight against pancreatic cancer, how we could make "Purple the new Pink", and that is when we found the inaugural PurpleStride Charlotte! We formed our 1st family team in 2012 which over the past 12 years has grown to include extended family, friends, and coworkers!

Will you help us rewrite the future of this disease by making a donation today?

Every dollar that you donate ensures that the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network can continue working to create better outcomes for pancreatic cancer patients and their families. By donating to our team, you are supporting vital efforts to double pancreatic cancer survival by 2020. 

Purple ribbons aren’t enough. Please join us in the fight today.