One of the world’s most deadly forms of cancer is the focus of an event in central Iowa this weekend that will gather survivors from across the state, as well as advocates and loved ones of those who’ve died from it.
The Purple Stride Iowa walk will be held Saturday at Raccoon River Park in West Des Moines. Ryan Dwars, of Iowa City, is a three-year pancreatic cancer survivor and he’ll be giving a speech during the event’s opening ceremony.
“The Purple Stride event is to help those that are impacted by pancreatic cancer,” Dwars says. “It’s a way to give tribute to family members that may have been lost due to pancreatic cancer, but it’s really to raise public awareness and funds to hopefully have some better treatment options, resources and scientific research.”
Symptoms of pancreatic cancer are often vague and can include abdominal or mid-back pain, unexplained weight loss, jaundice, loss of appetite, indigestion, changes in stool and new-onset diabetes. After some minor back pain grew and gradually spread into his chest, Dwars went to the ER and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at age 36.
“Luckily, I was able to catch it soon enough which — a lot of people aren’t quite that lucky,” Dwars says. “My uncle was battling pancreatic cancer at the time as well, too. He has since passed. I was able to have surgery, but then I’ve still been battling it because it’s come back a couple other times, so I’m on my third chemo regimen.”
The five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is just 13-percent. It’s estimated more than 66,000 Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year, and nearly 52,000 will die from the disease this year, making it the third-leading cause of cancer death in the U.S.
Dwars, a special education teacher at Iowa City West High School, says he’s faced a variety of challenges since being diagnosed.
“The chemo drug that I was on at the time, there was a shortage of that and I wasn’t going to be able to get it,” Dwars says. “We helped advocate and find the drug to be able to bring that to our local hospital, and not just to help myself but also to help about 50 other patients that were going to miss their chemo treatment because of a drug shortage.”
Saturday’s annual Purple Stride event is the only one in Iowa, and it’s among about 60 nationwide. The Iowa goal is to raise $145,000 toward a national goal of $19-million, in order to help change the lives of people facing pancreatic cancer and advance progress against the disease.