Pancreatic cancer survivor was given four months to live six years later she shares her story

2 Views

27 Sep 2024

At age 69 Pam Sander had lived a wonderful life A former teacher and lifelong St Louis resident Pam had been married to her soulmate Roy for almost 50 years We finish each other s sentences Pam laughs We ve gotten to be the typical old married couple After going to the doctor with stomach pain Pam learned she had pancreatic cancer I asked the doctor how long somebody usually lives with this Pam recalls She said about four months After realizing she wouldn t make it to 70 Roy was overcome with sadness But Pam took the opportunity to reflect on how wonderful her life had been How lucky I had been to live my whole life with someone I loved With children that I loved With friends that I love so we didn t cry anymore We just got on with gettin on As Pam tried to come to terms with her diagnosis her doctor presented her with some potentially exciting news she was eligible for a clinical trial of a new form of targeted radiation therapy known as MRIdian developed by ViewRay Shortly after treatment Pam learned that her tumor had not grown I felt like I could exhale she says Like we could live our lives again Now six years after treatment Pam is one of an incredibly small number of pancreatic cancer survivors who has lived more than five years She attributes the clinical trial using MRIdian to saving her life I feel proud to be part of history says Pam If this can help other people wouldn t that be wonderful It just made me feel like I was doing something worthwhile I thank the doctors and that machine for being my saviors ViewRayPartner ad Subscribe to my channel a https 3A 2F 2Fwww youtube com 2Fuser 2FKatieCouric a Follow me on Instagram a https 3A 2F 2Fwww instagram com 2Fkatiecouric 2F a Subscribe to my podcast ApplePodcasts com KatieCouric Follow me on Facebook a https 3A 2F 2Fwww facebook com 2FKatieCouric a Follow me on Twitter a https 3A 2F 2Ftwitter com 2Fkatiecouric a