Doris' Story

My mother, Doris Hatch, was a loving mother, Grammy, wife, sister, aunt, and friend! In the year leading up to my moms diagnosis she was diagnosed with diabetes (with a sudden increase in her hgbA1c), became more fatigued than ever before, diagnosed with gallstones, and had severe upper abdominal pain. My mom went in for an emergent cholecystectomy and 4 days later continued to have severe upper abdominal pain. After being diagnosed with post op pancreatitis, her pain continued despite pain management attempts. An MRI revealed a mass in her pancreas with spots on her liver and spleen. A week later my mom had a biopsy of her liver which revealed the pancreatic cancer had spread to her liver, spleen and lungs. It was estimated that my moms tumor had been growing for 5 years. My moms symptoms were vague and always had an explainable cause. 

 

On July 11, 2017 Doris passed.

 

Early diagnosis may have given my mom a better chance of survival. My family and I want to help prevent another family from losing their loved one to pancreatic cancer. Awareness and early diagnosis is key to increasing the survival rate!

 

Written by Jillian Hatch