Albany, NY, Pancreatic Cancer Walk - Latest Comments

Re: Our Walk Rocked!

Neil Piper — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 04:27:59 -0000

What a shame that Steve Jobs had to lose his life so early. I'm sorry for his passing. He was a revolutionary - a man who thought outside the box, and he should have had many more years to innovate new ideas and concepts. He affected my life. I still remember opening the boxes containing my Apple II+. It was an exciting moment in my life, and it changed my life. I learned so much about computing from that little computer. Many were the nights that I spent creating programs that I used in my research, or as a computer consultant, or as a gamer, playing Adventure, or other fantasy game. And the Apple affected my family's lives as well. My daughter Kim and my son David, used to play games on my Apple II+. Now, many years later, they have their own Apple iMacs, iPods and iPads. They are fully influenced by Mr. Jobs' creations. People of all ages walk around the streets, or study, or do their jobs, earbuds inserted, listening to music delivered to them from Apple devices. His stuff is as common as, you'll excuse the phrase, Apple pie and coffee. It's a shame that someting so insidious as pancreatic cancer killed him. I hate the damned disease, and I want to obliterate it.

Re: Welcome to Our New Site!

Neil — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 08:33:24 -0000

Why do people walk? Almost everyone has been directly affected by PC, by losing a family member or friend. Some people walk to support friends. But some people walk because they are curious. They've heard about pancreatic cancer, and they've heard about the walk. Over the years, we've seen more and more people who want to know about this cancer. One person I met was passing by in his car and saw the sign, so he turned in to check it out. Another read about the walk and was enticed by the donuts and pick-a-prize. Hey, if that's what it takes to get people interested in learning about PC, then so be it. One of the Walk goals is to raise awareness of this disease and what's being done to fight it. I'd like to see more curiosity seekers. I'd like to be able to have more participants at the walk who have NOT been affected by the disease. I'd like to see more participants who have survived this disease - who have battled it and won. I'd like to see a survival rate that reaches 80% percent and have walkers who can stand strong and say "we beat it"! But most of all, I'd like to see the day when we can say that this cancer is no longer a killer. So I applaud those curious people who come for some other reason than being affected by PC. I welcome you, and hope you will spread the word.

Re: Albany Capital District Walk for Hope

Susan Paepke — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 11:03:28 -0000

What an AWESOME turnout yesterday for the 2010 walk!! Some many people, so many funds raised. $87,000 and still counting. And best yet you can STILL donate as walk website will be open for at least 2 more months!

Re: Welcome to Our New Site!

NPiper — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 11:21:37 -0000

Well, I'm back from my big adventure at Johns Hopkins. As many of you know, I joined a familial pancreatic cancer early detection study about 3 years ago. Since then, I've been going for regular 3-month surveillance of my pancreas alternating between Johns Hopkins and St. Peters Hospital here in Albany. During one of my scheduled trips down my throat on July 16th, the doctor found something he didn't like. We sent all the images and reports down to my doctor at Hopkins. She called same day and scheduled us for a CT and another endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) that following Wednesday. The short of it is that there was a mass in the tail section of my pancreas. I underwent surgery on Aug. 30th, recovered in the hospital for six days, and came back home to Albany on Wed. afternoon, 9/8. I'm feeling a little better each day. The point is, the early detection study and subsequent EUS's and MRIs helped us detect something that otherwise would have been undetected. I presented no symptoms. I felt no pain. I wasn't jaundiced. I didn't have indigestion. That early detection study was partially funded by the Lustgarten Foundation. So looking at this another way, for seven years, Shari and I have pay-forward work in raising funds to support pancreatic cancer research by the Lustgarten Foundation. It has paid us back. I thank the doctors and staff at Hopkins, I thank the doctors at St. Peters and Albany Gastroenterological Consultants up here, and I thank the Lustgarten Foundation.

Do you have some experiences you'd like to share? I would love to see them.
Neil

Re: Albany Capital District Walk for Hope

Susan Paepke — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:50:29 -0000

Want to walk but don't want to walk alone? Team "Friends Helping Friends Find a Cure" welcomes you to walk with them. We are 25 strong and walking for all those lives lost to this horrible disease. YES 1 Person Can Make a Difference! Please join us on 9/12/10.

Re: Welcome to Our New Site!

Neil Piper — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 08:22:40 -0000

And folks, please let us know what you think of the new site! We think it's an improvement, but we're still playing around with format and clickable lists and pages. Be patient (no, not the hospital one) with us, and keep sending us feedback. Don't forget that you can send email to info@albanypcrwalk.org. We'll respond!
Or, post a message here for all to see.