The National Pancreatic Cancer Foundation hosted its annual Visions in Violet Gala in Rapid City. The goal—to raise awareness about the disease and help raise funds to support patients.
National Pancreatic Cancer Foundation officials said it has one of the lowest five-year survival rates of any major cancer, at only 10 percent. Rhonda Williams is the founder and director of the foundation. She described why the survival rates are so low.
“The symptoms are very similar to a lot of other things like jaundice—which would be your liver—back pain, digestive issues. It could be anything, and so they’re having a hard time diagnosing it. And it's a silent killer is what they call it. So, it hides and by the time they realize it’s there, it’s stage 3, stage 4, so the need for early detection is critical.”
Williams started the national foundation because of her mother-in-law, who passed away from the disease after a six-year battle. Williams was her primary caregiver.
“I watched them lose their house, their savings, their…any kind of resources, so I was like 'what can we do to help these people who just get annihilated?' Not everybody, but a lot of people. They lose their job because they can’t work. So that is my reason why. And everything I do for pancreatic cancer, I do for her. It keeps her memory alive and it makes the fact that she didn’t die in vain.”
Williams said to be diligent with your doctors if you have symptoms with no other explanations.
The state Department of Health reports in 2019, pancreatic cancer was the third leading cause of death in South Dakota, making up more than 8 percent of all cancer deaths.