Doris was a loving mother, Grammy, wife, sister, aunt, and friend! In the year leading up to her diagnosis, she was diagnosed with diabetes (with a sudden increase in her hgbA1c), became more fatigued than ever before, was diagnosed with gallstones, and in the months leading up to her diagnosis had severe upper abdominal pain. She went in for an emergent cholecystectomy and 4 days later continued to have severe upper abdominal pain. After being diagnosed with post-op pancreatitis, her pain continued despite pain management attempts. An MRI revealed a mass in her pancreas with spots on her liver and spleen. A week later, Doris had a biopsy of her liver which revealed the pancreatic cancer had spread to her liver, spleen and lungs. It was estimated that the tumor had been growing for 5 years.

Doris' symptoms were vague and always had an explainable cause. Early diagnosis may have given a better chance of survival. The entire Hatch family wants to help prevent another family from losing their loved one to pancreatic cancer by raising money to assist with awareness, research efforts to develop a cure!

Awareness and early diagnosis is key to increasing the survival rate!