In honor of her Mom, daughter shares a diagnosis that can save lives

26th November 2018   ·   0 Comments

By Kelly Parker
Contributing Writer

Ella Louise Hall, affectionately known to many as Louise, was a feisty, compassionate, vibrant senior, who took part in activities at the Sojourner Truth Neighborhood Center’s senior program, and diligently volunteered at the St. Vincent de Paul Pharmacy, seldom missing a day because of an ailment.

One day, she complained to her daughter Jacqueline about not feeling well, and she asked to be taken to the hospital. She complained of back and abdominal pain, along with nausea and vomiting.

“When I think back about my Mom, I think of her as someone who was never sick.” Hall states.

At age 77, she had only been hospitalized on two occasions: One, being when she gave birth to her daughter.

Initial testing determined Hall has suffered a stroke.

But after visits to two hospitals and series of tests and procedures, the Halls received a shocking diagnosis: pancreatic cancer.

And while November marks Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month; it is always welcomed when individuals globally come together to educate, inform and fight against the disease.

Pancreatic cancer is projected to become the second-leading cause of cancer-related death in the U.S. by the year 2030, behind lung cancer, according to date published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Pancreatic Cancer begins in the cells of the pancreas; an organ in the abdomen that lies behind the lower part of the stomach. The pancreas has two main functions. It makes enzymes that help with digestion, and it makes hormones, such as insulin, that control how our bodies store and use glucose – sugar that is the body’s main source of energy. There are two forms of pancreatic cancer: exocrine pancreatic cancer, which accounts for approximately 95 percent of all cases, and endocrine or pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, also called islet cell tumors.

Abdominal and mid-back pain, yellow skin or eyes (jaundice) change in stool, unexplained weight loss and digestive problems are known to be the common symptoms of pancreatic cancer.

The disease often doesn’t cause signs or symptoms in the early stages, which can make it hard to diagnose early on. Symptoms can also be vague and may come and go, while the severity can also vary, depending on the individual.

It’s important to remember that symptoms can be caused by more common things. They can also be caused by conditions such as pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), gallstones, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or hepatitis (inflammation of the liver).

“The signs/symptoms are so common to so many other things that it makes it hard to diagnose,” Jacqueline Hall told The Louisiana Weekly. “ My mom had some persistent symptoms, but never though they were bad enough to warrant going to a doctor.”

She also states there was no family history of the disease. Despite not having a family predisposition, Hall’s race likely served as a factor.

According to Sol Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Research Center, the incidence of pancreatic cancer is 50 – 90 percent higher in African Americans than in any other racial group in the United States. Not only is pancreatic cancer more common among African Americans, but African Americans also have the poorest prognosis of any racial group because they are often diagnosed with advanced, and therefore, inoperable cancer.

African Americans also are less likely to receive surgery than any other racial group in the United States. Other risk factors for pancreatic cancer that are more common in African Americans include diabetes mellitus, pancreatitis, and being overweight.

The center also states that the best way to reduce your risk of pancreatic cancer is to quit smoking if you smoke, eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables and low in processed meats, and maintain a healthy weight.

For Hall, the experienced has taught her to pay more attention to her body, especially when it comes to persistent symptoms.

“I know not to ignore them,” she says. “ Get it checked, and if need be, get it checked again. We didn’t have time to wrap our heads around the diagnosis, because things got bad quickly from that point, and she passed nine days later, on May 6, 2017. It was a total of 29 days from the beginning of this journey. I can still hear my Mom say, you never know.”

Hall and her family continue to share and help spread awareness of the disease, in her mothers memory.

For local information on pancreatic cancer, visit http://support.pancan.org.

This article originally published in the November 26, 2018 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.