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 in the months leading up to her diagnosis 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