My husband John Stewart died of pancreatic cancer in 1996. I remember so clearly the day he was diagnosed. It was the first week of school and our youngest daughter had just started kindergarten; her older sister was in the fifth grade. The doctor told us to "get your affairs in order." John was young, strong and very athletic, all of which may have helped him live for 3 1/2 years after the diagnosis. We considered ourselves fortunate that he lived so long.

I recently learned that the experimental drugs John took remain the standard treatment for pancreatic cancer. It breaks my heart that we have not made any progress against this horrible disease in the nearly 14 years since John died. So now I work to raise awareness, money for research and hope for pancreatic cancer patients and their loved ones.