Almost 5 years ago my feet were knocked out from under me when I heard words I never thought I’d hear. It was a Sunday afternoon, after church. Geoff and I usually talked in the evening, but he’d called in the middle of the day, that day.
“My dad has pancreatic cancer.”
Geoff and I were just dating at the time, though we’d been together just over a year and a half at the time. Up until that moment I hadn’t even heard of the pancreas. I had no idea what it did, and my first question was, can they remove it? No, you can’t live without your pancreas, he said.
The next 3 months followed in a blur, but Geoff’s dad, diagnosed at the beginning of December, was gone by the end of February. The cancer was agressive, and faster than I ever thought it would be. It’s been nearly 5 years since his death, and we still miss him.
One of the things I have learned since then is that I’m not the only one who is clueless about pancreatic cancer. I’ve written on this cancer before, so I won’t revisit all the facts, but I will say this. Right now, pancreatic cancer is often a death sentence.
Out of this frustration over the ignorance of pancreatic cancer and my own personal vendetta, the Purple Scarf Project was born. I solicited the internet for purple scarf donations (and made a few myself) last winter. This winter the etsy shop selling the scarves is finally open. Every penny of every sale will be donated to PanCan.org. I started with 23 scarves, and I’m happy to say that 7 have been bought, and $145 will be donated to PanCan.org…so far.
So what does this have to do with you? Well, I’d love it if you checked out my shop, but even more, I’d love if you helped me spread the word. Whether your life has been impacted by pancreatic cancer or another type, if we all band together to support cancer research then maybe, just maybe they will find a cure.
I have one other request. If you knit or crochet, would you consider donating a scarf, headband or something else knitting with purple yarn? I am hoping to expand past just scarves and could use your help.
Will you help me spread the word and, in my own small way, help make a difference?
librarian, housewife, writer 