Luciano Pavarotti 1935-2007

Luciano Pavarotti died this past week. It’s been all over the news. He was a legend in music world having a celebrated tenor voice. It has taken me a little while to be able to write about this mainly because he died of pancreatic cancer, and if anyone has been paying attention to my blog, pancreatic cancer is a bit of a tough subject for me to discuss. I wish really that the news programs would have concentrated more on his life in music then on the fact that he died of this disease. I’m sure many would have rather listened to him sing rather then listening to a reporter repeat statistics of how many people a year die of pancreatic cancer, or how horrible a cancer it is to treat and live with. Most do not survive this cancer. Pavorotti lasted 14 months after diagnosis, he did well relatively speaking. Mom lasted 3 ½ weeks. In my hotel room last Thursday morning watching CNN report on the death of Pavarotti, I was once again smacked in the face with a reminder of what happened to my mother. Reminded of what I lost, what my family lost, what so many people are dealing with on a daily basis.

Pancreatic cancer statistics are not anything that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Not a good blog topic normally, but after all, this is one of the reasons I’m doing this blog. Sometimes the hard, disturbing truths about cancer are needed to remind us that it affects everyone, everyday and it needs to be dealt with urgently. Pancreatic cancer, or adenocarcinoma of the pancreas is diagnosed each year more then 30,000 times alone in the US. Most of the people who are diagnosed will lose their lives within the first year. The survival rate, if left untreated, is on average about 3 ½ months; and with treatment is approximately 6 months. This is a difficult cancer to catch early. Symptoms are loss of appetite, nausea, pain and discomfort in the abdomen, and weight loss, all of which are not feelings that would ordinarily make you think you have a cancer. People might just feel as if they are coming down with a stomach virus. I know my mother complained for a few weeks of stomach discomfort, but she wrote it off to working too much and not eating properly. She had always had a history of stomach problems anyway. Yellowing of the skin or jaundice is probably the most common physical sign of pancreatic cancer. It is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in men and women, and most likely has the worst median survival period of any cancer. It’s painful too; very, very painful. I have said this before to some of my close friends, in a way, I’m happy that my mother did not have to endure the chemotherapy. I didn’t want her to have to suffer not only the pain from the cancer, but the horrible effects of the drugs being pumped through her system. Those drugs, in all likelihood would have only prolonged her life a few months.

I guess this is enough for one entry. I’m still having issues thinking about what has happened. I would much rather think about what can be done to help find a cure, or be a part of a support system to someone who has survived cancer. I would rather write about a success story. Maybe by being a part of this fundraiser, I’ll be a part of someone’s.