My story is about my mom – Shirley Weber

 

This event took place from 01 March 2012 to 30 September 2012

 

The Discovery

My mom was experiencing stomach pain in early 2012 and went to see her doctor after several weeks of pain to have it checked out. As a retired nurse, she was of the belief that a kidney stone or a gallbladder issue was to blame. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer in March of 2012.

This is My Story

After losing both my mom and father-in-law to pancreatic cancer, I returned to my home in Charlotte, North Carolina in the fall of 2012 and launched my journey into pancreatic cancer advocacy that continues to this day. I am one of the three co-founders of the Charlotte Pancreatic Cancer Alliance. We raise awareness for pancreatic cancer 365 days of the year by doing 3 things: we build community, we share stories, and we create purple buzz.

The Impact of Time

Time was a theme throughout my mom’s pancreatic cancer journey. She was diagnosed about 7 years after my beloved father-in-law, Jim Benson, passed away from pancreatic cancer. My mom passed away 5 months after diagnosis in August 2012. I will forever remember the time I spent with my mom at her beautiful log home in the Idaho mountains in the summer of 2012 as the cancer progressed. Since I fortunately had the ability to work remotely, I had precious time to spend with my mom to talk about her love for her family both near and far, and to talk about the sense of peace she felt as she prepared for her eventual passing.