Why Linda's Hope?

In July of 2008, at the age of 22, I received life-altering news. My last parent remaining announced she had stage IV pancreatic cancer. My father passed away from a motorcycle accident when I was 18 years old, after months of witnessing him in ICU, having seizures, a tracheal tube, feeding tubes and , surgeries, and weekly near death occurrences.  During his time in the hospital, he was paralyzed and unable to speak, but once. He counted to five and I missed it. A few months later, he died. Somehow, I managed to take my SATs, graduate high school and go to college.

My mom, Linda was the only parent I had left. I knew the pain of pancreatic cancer because it took my grandmothers life a few years prior. My brother and I could not help but scream and cry. We attempted to control ourselves as  much as in front of our dying mother. There are not words to describe the trauma faced as you watch a loved one battle cancer. My mother was healthy, non-smoker, non-drinker and lively woman. How could she have cancer? She rapidly lost weight. She dwindled away before our eyes. Her hollow face, dry skin, and skeletal figure at just 88 pounds,  5’7 still haunts me, which was identical to my grandmother’s rapid demise.

I was in my final semester of college at Auburn University and wanted to leave to spend time with my terminally ill mom. However, education was most important to her, as she was a teacher for 33 years. She insisted that I finish my semester. On my graduation day, after the ceremony, my brother, sister-in-law and she were driving home to Georgia, where my mom became violently ill. She began vomiting and her illness increased. The next day, I drove to see her and would remain at home with her until her death. When I got home, I thought she was not going to make it. We took her to the hospital and found that her colon had ruptured. Somehow, through a previous surgery, scar tissue had caused this major  setback.

My mom never fully recovered from that incident and lost her battle to pancreatic cancer on April 6, 2009. She cried for hours before her death because she did not want to leave her children. She fought with all she had until her final breath. I do not know why she was taken, but that's not for me to say. I do know that Linda’s Hope will change the outcome for other families by continuing to raise funding for research for early detection, better treatment options, and finding a cure.

I got married this past February with no parents at the age of 27. Although, I have been without them now for four years, they are my thoughts and dreams daily. The pain and loss from losing all my grandparents and parents, has been relentless. I have to believe I am here for a greater purpose, I believe that purpose to be to fight for others, and to fight for my family that can no longer have a life to fight for.

After my mom's death, I packed up our family home. It was not fair or right to burden the weight of a whole family torn apart, but somehow I did. It was excruciating pain to be in the house I knew for my entire life, without the people I shared it with. My brother was in Dallas with his wife. My mom's friends came together to help, but many days I was in the house alone, collecting memories from anything I could. I still have my family's furniture and photo albums and I suppose those and the memories will help my future children know their mom's side of the family.

Knowing that both my grandmother and mother died from pancreatic cancer, the doctors and I have my health to monitor. Due to the lack of funding for this fatal cancer, there is no only early detection. I can get CT scans, or MRIs every year to keep a watch, but that's it. This cancer scares me. The fear and pain of what I have seen, has caused me to fight it, even before/if I have it.

After my mother's death, I moved to Nashville. I started to search for pancreatic cancer organizations to become involved with and could not find anything. For November, Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, there was not an event to attend, or a group to meet. So, I decided that had to change. I began to formulate a non-profit with a group of friends, in my mother’s name, "Linda's Hope".

By May of 2010, 500 hundred people young adults learned about pancreatic cancer at a rooftop cocktail party in Nashville. Linda's Hope raised $30,000 at our first fundraiser and people quickly learned the urgency for our cause. Pancreatic cancer's five-year survival rate is at 6%. 75% of those diagnosed die within the first year. Our color is purple and we need to be heard!

We recently donated $100,000 to Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center for pancreatic cancer research. We continue to grow and create hope. Our charity is different. We are not a group of retirees, we are a group of young and energetic adults who are giving countless hours of our time for free to change the course of pancreatic cancer.