Students gather for pancreatic cancer vigil
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 11/19/2009
Bret Langham | Staff Photographer
Students pray for pancreatic cancer victims at the Slayer Center on Wednesday in honor of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.
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The long trek up and down Slayter Hill represented a symbolic journey of faith as many students gathered to bring the voice of awareness to an often silent disease.
Jenny Hummer, a senior in the School of Nursing, described her mother, Kathy, as a healthy, vibrant and loving parent. In September 2008, Kathy was diagnosed with Stage IV non-metastic pancreatic cancer. Although Kathy’s health has remained stable due to chemotherapy and radiation treatments, Jenny has made it her mission to raise awareness for the disease.
Diagnosis of pancreatic cancer usually occurs in the later stages of the disease as the symptoms of this “silent killer” remain subtle, preventing proper prognosis and detection until it is too late.
Statistics shown on the National Cancer Institute Web site for 2009 state that approximately 42,470 new cases will be reported and 35,240 will result in deaths in 2009 in the United States.
Students joined Jenny and her family last night to garner support and raise awareness for the silent disease in celebration of November being Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. The vigil, lit with candles, allowed students to share their experiences and offer any prayers.
Jenny felt her family’s experience has essentially altered her perception about her faith and life.
“I still feel like a college student, but in other ways not so much,” Jenny said. “I look at things completely different and realize that the simple day-to-day things are more important.
“They say you go through five stages of grief a certain way; however, I seem to find myself all over the place. My faith, though, has only made me gain more strength.”
Although faith was an important element of the vigil, not everyone present was religious.
Ellie Rowdon, a senior in the College of Education, said although she wasn’t particularly religious she could definitely see the effect of personal faith for believers.
“I don’t know God that well,” Rowdon said, “but I can see that just holding candles and the simple things like that are just as important for support.”
Hummer believed that if all that students got out of the vigil was a sense of awareness and faith, her goal was accomplished.
“Students need to realize that there are many groups on campus that are active,” she said, “and I have to say that I did not realize until I myself was personally affected. They need to be proactive and reach out to those affected in some way by cancer whether personally or by association.”
Risk factors for the disease include:
family history
smoking
obesity
gingivitis
binge drinking