Pick up the Pace

This was the saying for the day for a few reasons. A friend of mine has pancreatic cancer. This morning a group of us participated in the Pick up the Pace walk for cancer. I can't even tell you how many times we said this to Mike when walking to the walk location and then again during our walk. I had decided to do the 1 mile walk because I didn't think the kids, or at least Mike, would be able to walk much more than that. Especially in the sweltering heat! Another participant decided to return with me and we also took my friend's daughter with us. We hung out at the park while the rest of our group walked the 3 mile walk, which they all swore was more than 3 miles.

Heading down to the walk site, we said to Mike many times that he needed to "pick up the pace", not realizing at first that that was also the name of this walk. But he has little legs and it was hot, so can you really blame him for being slower than us taller people? This saying is also important for another reason. We learned afterwards that the EMS were not present and during the walk, especially for the longer distance, there were no water stations. Other walks I have been to there have been tables with cups of water and medical personnel present. There were a lot of older people there. What if someone had passed out from the heat on the trail?

I got to thinking later on in the day that there doesn't seem to be much awareness for pancreatic cancer. It is a horrible disease and the survival rate is not high. Most people do not know that have this cancer until it is too late. I think that we need to make others aware of this horrible disease. Hopefully researchers can do more research to find a way to detect this in people earlier and find a way to treat it and increase the survival rate. That is the main reason for this entry. I want to help spread awareness. I want my friend who is battling for her life to win that battle and I want the people after her who are diagnosed to have a better chance to win their fight.
If you read this, please click on the link on the side of my page. It will take you to the Pancan site where you can learn more and learn how to spread the word and help others.