LEBANON COUNTY, Pa. — The third Thursday in February is known as World Cholangiocarcinoma Day, bringing much-needed awareness to a rare form of cancer.
Cholangiocarcinoma affects the bile ducts of the liver. Today, homes and businesses will be lit up in green today in support.
“I felt so very alone when my father was diagnosed," said Palmyra resident Kristen Hall. Her father passed away last year, after being diagnosed with Cholangiocarcinoma back in 2017.
According to the American Cancer Society, around 8,000 people are diagnosed with the disease every year.
The hardest part is being able to tell the signs and symptoms apart from day-to-day aches and pains.
“It depends on the location because a lot of times these signs and symptoms are rather nonspecific. Such as feeling tired or decreased appetite," said Dr. Nelson Yee with Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. "It causes specific symptoms, especially jaundice, dark colored urine or light colored stool.”
“I was working as a paramedic and I had a lot of right shoulder pain, but I thought it was because I was wearing a pack monitor on my shoulder," said Melinda Bachini, the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation director of patient services. "I was extremely fatigued, but I worked 24-hour shifts. so, I wrote it off as part of the job, again, and then I started getting some GI issues.”
Bachini tells her story because she’s a 13-year survivor of the disease and wanted to be able to let other people know there's hope.
She a member on the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation after they were her lifeline when she was diagnosed, getting the word out and raising funds to make research possible.
“Comparatively speaking, from when my brother was diagnosed in 2005 and 13 years ago when Melinda was diagnosed, we are leaps and bounds from that," said Stacie Lindsey, the CEO of the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation. "There was literally nothing. Today, there are over 400 clinical trials that a patient could possibly partake in.”
One in 100,000 people across the country will be diagnosed this year – with as low as a 2% chance to live, depending on how fast the cancer spreads, how advanced it is and the location in the bile ducts or liver.
“This is one of the most challenging diseases to treat," said Dr. Yee. "The whole presentation is relatively late in the course.”
That’s why early detection and prevention are the keys to survival.
Palmyra is just one of many communities where homes and businesses were lit up in green to show support and help raise awareness
“I get chills when I know that friends and family members have cared enough to put the green in front of their house," said Hall.
In May, the third annual green-out baseball game will once again take place, honoring a former Palmyra coach
Twenty-three states recognize Cholangiocarcinoma in the month of February. Hall is working towards making the Keystone state the next.