In Conversation: Joanne Zborowski, Advocacy Chair, Chicago Affiliate

Editor's note: Chicago Advocacy Chair Joanne Zborowski spoke with PanCAN's Paula Mukherjee about her personal connection to PanCAN's mission and advice for others who have lost a loved one to pancreatic cancer.

Paula: What is your connection to PanCAN's mission?

Joanne: My husband, Bill, was diagnosed with Stage 2B pancreatic cancer in 2019. Both of his parents died from pancreatic cancer.

His battle with pancreatic cancer lasted for three years and three months.

Paula: What happened after Bill's diagnosis?

Joanne: Bill had the Whipple procedure, six months of chemo and five weeks of radiation with chemo.

A year after his initial diagnosis, in April 2020, he had a recurrence. The cancer came back in the part of the pancreas that was left behind. We were all shocked.

Bill had another three months of chemo. He had the rest of his pancreas and his spleen removed in September 2020.

Treatment this time was totally different experience for us because it happened in the middle of the Covid pandemic. I couldn't be in the hospital with him.

Everything looked great until April 2021, when cancer was found in the pancreatic bed, where his pancreas used to sit.

Paula: Did Bill return to treatment?

Joanne: He started chemo again. We also got connected with a radiation oncologist in New York City and spent three weeks there in November 2021 for a targeted radiation treatment.

It sounds funny, but it was a great experience. We got to spend so much time together, just the two of us, and explored the city.

That winter, Bill started to have some side effects from the radiation and was in and out of the hospital. There was always a lingering question about whether the cancer was gone.

Then he started having ascites, extra fluid built up in the abdomen. It is especially common in patients with pancreatic cancer whose cancer has metastasized. He had to have repeated paracentesis, a procedure to drain extra fluid in the abdomen.

When cancer cells appeared in the ascites fluid in May 2022, the doctor recommended restarting chemo. Bill really wanted to go to Florida for a week first, and his doctor encouraged us to go. We came back and he started chemo in the beginning of June.

A few days later, he was in the hospital with sepsis. That was the end of chemo, and he kept going in and out of the hospital the whole summer. He was a real fighter up to the end.

Bill died in August 2022.

Paula: When did you find PanCAN and how did you get involved?

Joanne: My involvement started with PanCAN PurpleStride.

While my daughter and I were sitting in the waiting room during Bill's Whipple surgery, we started to look at educational materials and learned about PanCAN and PanCAN PurpleStride. We signed up for PurpleStride Chicago 2019 and created our PurpleStride team, Team Bill.

After the pandemic years, we participated in PurpleStride 2022. Bill was well enough to walk with us for a final time.

Paula: What encouraged you to become a PanCAN volunteer?

Joanne: After Bill passed away, I didn't go back to work and was looking for volunteer opportunities. I thought that I should do something for PanCAN.

While Bill was going through his cancer journey, we also had a former neighbor who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. We got on a call to talk to him and his wife. I knew his wife when the family lived in our neighborhood, but we really became part of each other's lives and support systems because of our shared experience as caregivers.

Her husband died a year before Bill did. Even though I'm a nurse, I didn't know what to expect, and she helped me through Bill's final days.

Since Bill's death, there have been a few instances where people contact me because they have a friend who has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. They ask me if I can talk to their friend, and I always say yes.

These experiences led me to want to volunteer with PanCAN.

Paula: When you connect with survivors and caregivers, what do you share?

Joanne: One of the first things I say is that they should go to PanCAN's website and explore. There are a lot of resources that can help. The website helped us. It helped Bill understand the disease.

I also encourage people to find support groups. We received a lot of support through the hospital where Bill had surgery. They had a pancreatic cancer support group we joined. We met a lot of other survivors, and I often shared my experiences as a caregiver.

Paula: You and your sister-in-law, Lois, are co-advocacy chairs for the Chicago Affiliate. How is that experience?

Joanne: I have a nursing background, so I started on the Mission Committee because I can help educate people about pancreatic cancer and raise awareness about the signs and symptoms of the disease.

I still do this as part of my work with the affiliate, but I also head our government advocacy efforts with Lois because our affiliate needed leadership in that area. Now that we've been working on this for a few years, we've made relationships with great people who help us.

I've learned a lot! I didn't know about the Pancreatic Cancer Research Program (PCARP) at the Department of Defense when I got started, for example. It's the only source of dedicated federal funding for pancreatic cancer.

Lois and I work with our volunteers and community members to contact the members of Congress in our districts. We keep track of people who have participated in our advocacy campaigns before. We also work on finding people who live in different districts because we want members of Congress to be contacted by their own constituents.

I've learned how important advocacy for increased pancreatic cancer research funding is and what a difference pancreatic cancer advocates make.

PCARP was funded at a record $20 million in fiscal year 2026 - that was exciting! Right now, we're continuing to contact Congress and urging our lawmakers to prioritize pancreatic cancer research.

Paula: Did you start volunteering with PanCAN at the same time as Lois?

Joanne: When I began volunteering, she learned more about it and decided to sign up to volunteer as well. We're a good team.

Volunteering together is another way we can honor and remember Bill.

Paula: What keeps you motivated as a volunteer?

Joanne: I think about people out there who are struggling with this disease and it makes me want to keep contributing.

I'm also motivated by the idea of early detection methods for pancreatic cancer. I think about my daughter and relatives on my husband's side of the family; early detection could really help them.

This year has been so exciting, with everything that is coming out about daraxonrasib and other KRAS-targeting therapies. I'd like to see pancreatic cancer research and treatments continue advancing.

I'm also motivated by the people I work with in the Chicago affiliate. We've all been through something difficult, and it's been great to get to know them and work together. I'm so impressed by the work they do.

Paula: What advice do you have for others who have lost a loved one to pancreatic cancer and are considering volunteering with PanCAN?

Joanne: Dive in! It's worth looking into volunteer opportunities and taking the step to learn about how you can contribute.

Talk to the staff partner for your local affiliate. Joan, the staff partner for the Chicago Affiliate, introduced PanCAN to me. She asked me about my interests and connected me to work that is meaningful to me.

Getting involved with PanCAN can be a part of your grieving process. As a nurse and caregiver, I was able to help my husband while he was sick. After he was gone, I wanted to do something else to make a difference. Volunteering gives me another way to help people.

Paula: What is your favorite memory from PurpleStride?

Joanne: The memory that really sticks in my mind is from the first PurpleStride we did, in 2019. This was an experience that made me realize how special it is to be part of the PanCAN community.

Our community came together for Bill. My sister and her husband flew in from Pennsylvania. Our friends and neighbors attended. A bunch of my daughter's friends participated.

The event was just five weeks after Bill's surgery. We weren't sure if he'd be able to attend, but he was doing really well and wanted to go.

We picked up our PurpleStride T-shirts. One of the T-shirts was white. We didn't know that it was a survivor T-shirt, so Bill put on a purple participant T-shirt instead.

When I was unloading our car with my family, a woman in a white survivor T-shirt came up to us out of nowhere. She walked right up to Bill and asked him if he was a survivor.

Bill didn't think of himself as a survivor at that point. He was only five weeks post-op and planned to start chemo next. He didn't know how to answer the question, and neither did I.

The woman started talking to him and said such positive, encouraging things. We all got teary-eyed talking to her. She was amazing.

We got distracted by something for a moment and turned away. When we turned back to say something to the woman, she had disappeared.

My sister thought it was an angel who came to Bill - to all of us - to share encouragement.

We got to do one more PurpleStride with Bill. Since the first year, every time we participate in PurpleStride, we always encounter someone who has something positive and encouraging to say to us.

You have moments on this journey when you are just down. PurpleStride has been a very uplifting experience every year.

Seeing the huge crowd makes you realize that you're not alone. There are other people going through what you're going through, whether you're a survivor, caregiver or loved one.

Every PurpleStride has been great, but that first one will always stay in my mind.

Paula: Joanne, thank you for everything you do for PanCAN!