I have always enjoyed an active lifestyle, playing pickleball and taking long walks with my husband, Bill. But in April 2019, I started experiencing back pain and a loss of appetite for a couple of weeks. One night, the pain was so bad that Bill took me to our local hospital in Michigan. Doctors found a mass on my pancreas that turned out to be stage IV pancreatic cancer.

My family was in shock and scared when they heard the news...