Less than two months ago, we offered a tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsberg in recognition of her passing away from pancreatic cancer. And yesterday, beloved Alex Trebek also passed away from this deadly disease. Thus, this post is in honor of Alex Trebek.
As a most-lucky pancreatic cancer survivor, every time anyone dies from PC, it seems like I am being stabbed in the heart. WE MUST DISCOVER BETTER DIAGNOSTICS, so those afflicted can be treated much earlier. I feel really awful that most of those diagnosed with PC die within six months. Furthermore, only one in ten of us will survive for five years.
Please donate to PC research. November is Pancreatic Cancer Month. With World Pancreatic Cancer Day falling on November 19, 2020.
A Collection of Accolades in Honor of Alex Trebek
Alex Trebek’s Contributions to Better Understanding PC
To begin, we recognize Alex Trebek’s terrific support for the PC community. From the time of his diagnosis until his death, he was open about his contracting pancreatic cancer and the dire nature of his prognosis. We applaud Alex Trebek for the many videos he posted.
Here are three of them. The first comes from March 2019. The second comes from October/November 2019. The third comes from Match 2020.
A Few Recollections from Around the Globe
From the Lustgarten Foundation:
Like fans around the world, we were saddened to learn of the death of Alex Trebek, 80, from pancreatic cancer. By openly sharing his cancer battle, Alex became a powerful voice in raising awareness of pancreatic cancer and providing hope for people affected by pancreatic cancer around the world. Our thoughts are with has family, friends and millions of fans who welcomed the long-time Jeopardy! host into their homes for 35 years. His final Jeopardy! is scheduled to air on Christmas Day.
According to Sam Anderson, writing for the NY Times in late 2019:
“Despite the diagnosis, Trebek continued to work, to put on his suits and read his clues “It was a dignified refusal to surrender to doom,” he said. “He was the squarest possible existentialist hero: a man who holds the answer to every single trivia question, but not to the great final question of death — and yet he keeps showing up anyway, reading his clues, giving us every last answer he can.”
Canada’s Prime Minister Trudeau notes that: