1. Michelle Block with her mother, Carol Craft, who died from pancreatic
cancer in 2011. Credit Provided
Summerville Woman Continues Fight Against
Pancreatic Cancer
Michelle Block asks for help in bringing more awareness to disease.
By Lindsay Street
June 4, 2013
Purple might have less endorsements and special
products than pink, but one Summerville woman
seeks to bring more national attention to
pancreatic cancer.
Michelle Block will participate in her fourth
Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C., to bring
awareness to the disease that took her mother,
Carol Craft, two years ago. Advocacy Day is with
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
The numbers are staggering: 75 percent of those
diagnosed with the disease will die within the first
12 months. It's survival rate is 6 percent. To
compare, breast cancer has a survival rate of 90
percent.
The 7th annual Advocacy Day is June 17-18 in Washington, D.C. Block has taken part in the Pancreatic Cancer
Action Network event since her mother was diagnosed.
While the PanCAN's signature legislation, the Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act, was signed into
law, sequestration threatens National Institute of Health and the National Cancer Institute budget cuts.
"Our 'ask' for Congress this year during the Pancreatic Cancer Advocacy Day will be to not make budget cuts,
particularly in the case of a cancer that has historically received the minimum amount of research funding,"
Block said.
Can't go? Pancreatic Cancer Action Network asks you to call Congress. Click here to read more.
Block is also looking for volunteers to help spead awareness about the disease. "Unfortunately, here in South
Carolina our volunteer base is insufficient to have a full affiliate," Block said. Block said she will continue the
fight, even with her mother gone.
"Unlike breast cancer, pancreatic cancer does not have the survivors to continue to rally behind this cause ... It
is up to the loved ones left behind to continue to fight for awareness and additional research funding so that
future patients may have better survival odds," Block said. "So while my mother and her memory are my
inspiration and my driving force, I continue to volunteer and advocate for this cause for those that may face it in
the future, including my own children; so that others may have better odds of catching it earlier and surviving
longer than my mother and so many others did."