Welcome to Our “Fight Like Manny” PanCAN PurpleStride Team Fundraising Page!

Manny is a retired firefighter, proudly serving Miami Dade County for 32 years. On September 11, 2023, our family’s fearless leader, Manny, was admitted to Baptist Hospital for what we soon learned would be a diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer. Since then, our family has learned so much about this awful disease and the many families it affects. In the past several months, Manny has undergone 6 hospital admissions, 2 EGD procedures for stent placement, several months of chemotherapy, countless tests and doctors’ appointments. Most recently, on March 26, 2024, Manny was one of the “lucky” ones and underwent a “Whipple”, a major surgery to remove the tumor in his pancreas, which reorganizes your digestive system (Yes, OUCH). Manny is currently recovering from this surgery and continuing his fight thanks to God.

In the words of Viktor E. Frankl,“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Every day since his diagnosis, Manny has chosen an attitude of strength, courage, humor, positivity, and gratefulness.  We are so incredibly proud of our hero and want to show him our love and support by walking on April 27th to raise awareness and fundraise for a cure for Pancreatic Cancer. We hope you will join us in taking a small step to find a cure for this awful disease!

There is no preventative screening for Pancreatic Cancer and it is one of the most difficult cancers to diagnose because of where the pancreas is located and its accompanying symptoms, so it is often not diagnosed until after it has metastasized to the surrounding organs. Some of the Pancreatic Cancer symptoms that often go overlooked or misdiagnosed are the following:

- Belly pain that spreads to the sides or back

- Loss of appetite 

- Weight loss 

- Yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes, called jaundice 

- Light-colored or floating stools 

- Dark-colored urine Itching 

- New diagnosis of diabetes or diabetes that's getting harder to control 

- Pain and swelling in an arm or leg, which might be caused by a blood clot 

- Tiredness or weakness.