Meet Tina Lucci from Allentown, Pennsylvania. She is a special education teacher and a mother of two boys. Tina is a survivor of pancreatic cancer, having been diagnosed during the holiday season of 2019.
She first felt unwell at work, so she went to the emergency room. Her diagnosis was a shock, as she had no family history of pancreatic cancer and was a mother of two young boys. Tina chose not to share her diagnosis with her loved ones initially, preferring only her immediate family to know, especially since it was the holiday season. She felt ashamed and like she had somehow brought the cancer upon herself.
Tina started chemotherapy treatment but had allergic reactions, such as swelling of her tongue, and had to switch to a different regimen. She traveled from Allentown to Philadelphia to Fox Chase Cancer Center for her treatments. However, her local hospital's oncology department also provided treatment closer to her home. To date, she has undergone over 70 chemotherapy treatments and counting, and has also had radiation therapy. Chemo has been effective for her during her nearly 5-year journey.
She was scheduled to undergo an Appleby procedure, but the cancer had spread to her liver, leading to the cancellation of the surgery. After spending four days in the hospital, she continued chemotherapy to keep her tumor stable. Tina has become an advocate for herself and feels that chemotherapy is the best way to extend her time with her family rather than putting herself through a risky surgery.
Tina describes how cancer has made her softer and more gentle. She finds herself letting minor annoyances go and living life more fully. She takes every opportunity to spend quality time with her sisters and friends. Overall, Tina is making the most of her experience with cancer, referring to it as her "prison time." She feels that she is serving time with this disease but is making the best of it.
If you’d like to donate to Project Purple’s mission of a world without pancreatic cancer, please visit https://www.projectpurple.org/.
Tina welcomes emails at tlucci@gmail.com
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