May 15, '08
My father's 4-months-from-diagnosis battle with pancreatic cancer ended this week. He passed away peacefully, after months of pain and suffering with this wretched disease. We're all grateful that he is not in pain anymore, yet are sad to see him go - he will be missed greatly.
You can read an excessively long obituary or google him to get an idea of what he did in life (he's the MeadWestvaco and PeaceCorp Dave C, not the Wasau paper guy). He is my father, so I'm biased, but he was a pretty swell guy.
We're still a bit in shock, the cancer (and it's side effects) moved quickly, in a matter of months reducing a strong man to a mere shadow. This cancer is brutal. Effective detection and treatment need to be developed; this disease kills nearly every diagnosed patient. I now understand why so much of the medical speak about panc cancer is about 'pain management' and 'palliative care' - there's little effective treatment availble. Pancan and the Lustgarten Foundation (amongst others) are actively lobbying for awareness and funding research.
Again, thank you all for your kindness and endless support, it's been rough, and we couldn't have made it this far without you.