Thank you for visiting my page. I am raising money in support of PanCAN (Pancreatic Cancer Action Network) by participating in PurpleStride Los Angeles. My reason is very personal - I lost my beloved mom, Maria, to pancreatic cancer on October 7th, 2016. I will never forget the day that she was diagnosed. I was staying the night at Cedars to be with my mom, when the nurses came in to take her for an endoscopic ultrasound (EUS). After 30 minutes or so, the doctor came out and said "Your mom has pancreatic cancer. With chemo/radiation, she has days/weeks/months to live". I could not believe what I was hearing - even with intervention, my mom would not live long. I was alone and had to somehow digest this awful news. And, next thing you know, they are wheeling my mom back into the room. I had been sobbing. I tried to hold it together, but she knew something was wrong. I had to tell her the news that she had pancreatic cancer (I could not bear to tell her the prognosis).

During our appointments at Cedars with her amazing oncologist, I heard about PanCAN and all the work they were doing to research this disease and increase the survival rate. I learned then that they held yearly walks to raise money to fund PanCAN. I participated in my first PurpleStride in May of 2015. 

When my mom was diagnosed in November of 2014, the 5-year survival rate was 5%. Today, it stands at 13% - it has more than doubled in 11 years! This organization is truly unbelievable!!

Not a day goes by that I don't think about my mom - I miss her terribly! On April 26th, I will walk to honor her and to help win the fight against this horrible disease. 

Please join my team and walk with me on April 26th or donate today to help me to reach my fundraising goal.

Thank you.