By Rebecca Mackover
Patrick Swayze was a shining star in Hollywood and will be missed by fans from around the world. His brave, public battle with pancreatic cancer provided hope for all those afflicted with this terrible disease. For nearly two years he beat the odds stacked against him and brought awareness to the fourth-leading cause of cancer death in the United States. In fact, 76 percent of patients die within the first year of diagnosis and the five-year survival rate is just 5 percent because there are no effective early detection tools or treatments for this disease. Despite these statistics, pancreatic cancer is the least-funded among leading cancer killers in our country.
My fianc?, Carl Baertlein, and I had just celebrated his 30th birthday when we found out that he had pancreatic cancer. Our only option was to try to keep Carl alive until someone found a cure, but I lost him to this vicious disease in August 2004.
We must take action to ensure scientific progress is made to give pancreatic cancer patients a fighting chance. We need our members of Congress to co-sponsor the Pancreatic Cancer Research & Education Act so that we will have the necessary funding to make true progress against this disease. This is critical now more than ever because the number of pancreatic cancer patients is projected to increase by 12 percent in 2009 and by 55 percent by 2030.
I am a volunteer for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. I encourage everyone to get involved in the fight against pancreatic cancer. To learn how easy it is to make a difference, please visit www.pancan.org or call 877-272-6226. Together, we can make a difference.
Rebecca Mackover
Menlo Park
