At some point, we have all thought about the day we would lose a parent. For me, this was my greatest fear.
My mother and I were very close; she was my best friend and business partner. We operated our family empire of seven Fantastic Sams Salons together. She was both a traditionalist, wife and mother, and a modern businesswoman.
She took care of herself and our father, cooking healthy meals, taking vitamins and having her annual checkup. In 2006, she began feeling discomfort. She visited different doctors and had a battery of tests.
One doctor diagnosed her with acid reflux. At first we did not fully realize what was happening. She kept how she felt and most doctor visits to herself, until I found test results that indicated something was wrong with her pancreas and liver.
I immediately contacted her doctor.
Mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on March 5, 2007, just two days after her 60th birthday. The whole family was there with her.
We had family friends who had cancer. Some, after long battles, became cancer-free, while others passed away. Mom and dad were a month away from retirement when she was diagnosed. Our family was distraught. Anger and denial sunk in, and death was out of the question. We all knew we had a battle on our hands but did not understand the severity of the term “pancreatic cancer.”
How to battle pancreatic cancer? Treatment, round one: six weeks of intense radiation and two rounds of chemo.
Symptoms from the treatment began to show with weakness, blood clots, abdominal bloating, severer jaundice, bleeding, etc.
I thought, “Ugh, this was not getting any better.”
I decided to have a reality check with her doctor to really find out what was happening to her. As I sat there and listened, I learned she was diagnosed in stage 4B (terminal) cancer and treatment was only a dream to, perhaps, prolong her life. She lived only an additional two months after her diagnosis.
Venke spent all but one night in her own home and passed away in her bed with all three of us at her side. She is a greatly loved and greatly missed woman.
When I was given the opportunity to tell you my personal story of having lost my mom, I realized that — though I want you to donate toward pancreatic cancer research — I want to encourage you that if you find out a loved one is ill, fight, do research, talk to the doctors; don’t just accept a diagnosis. Make sure you have no regrets.
People with pancreatic cancer cannot champion for themselves; 75 percent die within 12 months of diagnosis. There is no early detection method and no cure. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth-leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S.
Diana Trondsen has operated Fantastic Sams Hair Salon on Central City Boulevard in Galveston for almost 15 years. On Sunday and Monday, Fantastic Sams will donate $2 for every haircut, $1 for every Fantastic Sams product and 20 percent of color and perm services to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network to help research.
