Travis County Commissioners Court
October 27, 2009,
Item 4
Item no.
4.
approve resolution proclaiming November 2009 as "pancreatic cancer awareness month" in Travis County.
>> thank you so much for coming out.
i will read the resolution, then hopefully take some comments.
whereas over 42,000 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year in the united states and over 35,000 will die from the disease, whereas pancreatic cancer is the deadliest cancer and the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the united states.
whereas approximately 2,120 deaths will occur in Texas.
whereas 76% of pancreatic cancer patients die within the first year of their diagnosis and 95% die within the first five years.
whereas there is no cure for pancreatic cancer and no significant improvements in early detection, treatment methods or survival rates in the last 30 years, whereas when symptoms of pancreatic cancer present themselves it's usually too late for an optimistic prognosis and the average life expectancy is only three to six months.
whereas incidents of is approximately pancreatic cancer 6 on% higher in african-americans than in other ethnic groups.
whereas the federal government invests less money in this research than it does in any other leading cancer killers, whereas the good health and well-being of the residents of Travis County are enhanced as a result of increased awareness about pancreatic cancer and research into early detection, causes and effective treatment.
whereas the pancreatic cancer network is the first and only organization that serves the community in Travis County and nation-wide by focusing its efforts on public policy, research funding, research services and public education awareness dedicated to developing effective treatments and a cure for pancreatic cancer.
they support those patients currently battling pancreatic cancer as well as those who have lost their lives to the diseases and committed to nothing less than a cure.
be it resolved that we the Travis County Commissioners court dedicate the month of November 2009 as pancreatic cancer awareness month in Travis County.
i move approval.
>> good morning.
>> good morning.
>> my name is janinia and I'm speaking on behalf of my partner dolores rosas.
she works for the Travis County sheriff's department.
in August 2006 dolores lost one of her brothers to pancreatic cancer.
in November of 2007, I took dolores to the emergency room for severe abdominal pain.
turned out to be pancreatitis.
after further tests they found suspicious nodules on her lungs, after more tests they diagnosed her with pancreatic cancer that had metastized to her lungs.
like so many others with pancreatic cancer she had no warning signs.
when it comes to pancreatic cancer early detection is rare and often accidental.
the doctor we saw here in Austin gave her no hope for survival and I guess you could say our lives changed at that point.
we began researching pancreatic cancer and statistics were not good.
since her diagnosis, she was -- she has managed to stay on the positive side of the statistics.
she's part of the lucky 24% who are still here after a year.
her survival has been in part due to aggressive treatments by a doctor at the cancer treatment centers of america who managed to keep her cancer under control through a variety of known and available treatments.
but in July of this year, we received another bomb shell.
the doctor told dolores he had run out of treatment options for her.
her cancer had outsmarted all of the known and tested treatments available.
and if that news wasn't bad enough, she had reached her lifetime insurance cap.
we were scared and unsure what to do at that point.
at that point dolores had resolved to allow the disease to go untreated.
she wanted to avoid putting her family and me in debt.
we finally convinced her to make a final call to md anderson just for one last hope, one last opinion.
and we did receive more hope and she was put on a clinical trial because, as I said, all of the other available treatments no longer worked for her.
next month, dolores will be entering her second year of survival since her diagnosis.
anybody who knows the statistics knows that's extremely rare and while she doesn't consider herself a survivor, we all do because she's managed to outlive a vast majority of the pancreatic cancer patients.
>> thank you.
>> thank you for your bravery in coming to tell us the story and dolores' bravery in facing her illness.
>> it was a lot of aggressive treatment she received, that's why she's here today and she can't be here today not because she's ill, but because she's going for training, so she's still working full time and still productive and -- and that again is extremely rare.
>> any additional comments?
>> I just wanted to introduce myself, I'm greg
>> [indiscernible] the Austin affiliate coordinator for the pancreatic cancer action network.
we thank you very much for the proclamation.
my mother passed away from pancreatic cancer eight years ago.
seven months after diagnosis.
dolores' -- dolores, I don't want to say she's a lucky one because she's still going through it, there a reason she's going through it, because of the passion that she has and the fact that she wants to kick this cancer.
and it's her spirit that -- that impassions and empowers those of us that volunteer towards this cause.
>> my name is erica prudy.
i lost my mother to pancreatic cancer.
she only had seven weeks to battle the cancer and there really was no battle.
it took her and took her very fast.
i wanted the dense of Travis County to know that -- the citizens of Travis County to know that there are organizations like pancreatic cancer network, we are out there raising awareness, we are soliciting for proclamations, we are raising money to help fight this disease.
as we said, it is underfunded.
less than 2% of the national cancer institute's budgetings towards pancreatic cancer and pancreatic cancer is the most lethal of all cancers out there.
i just wanted to say that anybody who wants to get involved our website is www.pancan.org.
just want to give a special thank you to the employees of the Travis County sheriff's office who ral lie time and time again on dolores' behalf to help raise money for her, for her travels, for her unpaid medical treatment.
they have just been a great source of inspiration to everybody.
>> also, could you tell us a little bit -- my family, too, has suffered from pancreatic cancer.
and could you tell us a little bit about the difficulties in detecting the cancer?
my understanding, please correct me if I'm wrong, that it is often not detected until very late in the disease because it masks as other things like stomach ulcers, things like that, so that we can raise the awareness of folks to really, if you've got abdominal pain and if you have got what -- what feels like, you know, a chronic case of indigestion and whatnot, really go to your doctor and talk to your doctor about your symptoms.
>> the -- in the case of my mother, my mother sought the advice of her family practitioner, she saw an emergency room doctor and she saw a vascular specialist, all three of these doctors misdiagnosed her.
she had a blood clot this her leg, that was diagnosed as deep vein thrombosis, turns out it was a syndrome which is not common in all of the -- all cancer patient, but that was her symptom.
so misdiagnosed a blood clot.
there are -- there are bizarre symptoms such as unexplainable rash.
this cancer is so incredibly smart and elusive that it does mask itself as many, many things.
and as a patient, running down all of the course of treatments through different doctors trying to find out what's wrong, it's running amok in their body.
by the time someone cames along and says ahas, you are typically at stage 4, which is where my mother was.
>> this is where coordinated care for health care would be very, very helpful.
one specialist will not notice the symptoms from another specialist's sphere.
>> very true.
and there are not enough doctors that their minds go there.
the truth of the matter is that the symptoms of pancreatitis are the same as pancreatic cancer.
in the case of my mother, it was extreme lower back pain for over a year.
her doctor referred her to a massage therapist.
you know?
so it's kind of that kooky there's no early detection, that's part of the reason we are doing what we're doing, trying to raise that awareness and make sure that people understand that, you know, it's -- it's great that so much money goes to cancer research, but this is one where we have to find early detection, there's just not enough funds going to it.
that's why our organization lobbies congress to increase the funding from the national cancer institute.
>> thank you for your efforts.
>> thank you so much.
>> thank you.
>> so dolores is on the county health plan?
>> yes, sir, yes.
well, she was.
the --
>> the lifetime cap on the county health plan is.
>> two million.
>> two million.
>> so in less than a year and a half of treatment, she reached that cap.
>> I -- I do know that they are working with her to -- to try to work through that and work beyond that.
it's my understanding, correct me if I'm wrong, it's a lot of paperwork approval and -- but it is -- it's very sad and it's frightening that based on the dollars that she had reached, that she was -- dolores is going to step aside and say, no more.
i give up.
and -- jenina wouldn't let her do.
the employees of the sheriff's office said no, we're going to fight, raise you money.
we had silent auction, lots and lots of things done on her behalf.
unfortunately it's not enough dollars.
>> uh-huh.
>> we are glad she's still hanging in there.
>> yes, her spirit is great.
>> all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
>> thank you.
>> thank you.
>> give you the -- the proclamation.
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Last Modified:
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 1:40 PM
