Anne and I are both blown away by how many of you have supported this fundraiser.

When she and I sat down to figure out fundraiser goals we figured that $5,000 would be an achievable goal and that $9,000 would be a reach. It’s fair to say that we vastly underestimated the support this fundraiser would achieve.

Anne shared in the last update that we nabbed second. What she didn’t share was that at the beginning of the final day we were roughly ~15 minutes behind the second-place finish. We had to maintain a sprint (on the water and carrying the boat on our shoulders) for the last 20+ miles to pull ahead into second. While we both have a (strong) streak of stubbornness, I don’t think we would have had the push to do it if not for the overwhelming support we received from each of you and for the cause we were paddling for. 

Pancreatic cancer is an exceptionally shitty disease. Due to its relatively vague symptoms, that can be confused for a menagerie of other illnesses, it is rarely caught before it has metastasized. Once metastasized, prognosis is very poor. This is why we chose to send the money to surveillance and early detection research. 

I am so happy to have been able to do something to help the fight against this disease. Thank you all for grabbing a paddle as well and willingly jumping into a (metaphorical) canoe with us.

-Anna

After a very long weekend spent canoeing for 18 hours and 26 minutes, Anna and I took home second place in our class at the 90 Miler! Of the 250 boats that participated, there were only four other women's two-person boats in our class that we raced against. The race was so tight all weekend, that we were originally awarded third place (as seen on the plaques in the photo). But after the final results came out, we discovered we had actually secured second place by less than a 2 minute margin.

Throughout the race, we had a lot of conversations with other paddlers and pit crew members about why were were fundraising for pancreatic cancer research. Some shared their own stories and relations to pancreatic cancer, and many wished my dad luck on his recovery.

Thank you to all who have donated so far to this fundraiser. I can't express just how much hope your donations have given my dad knowing that other people care about fighting this disease, too. I am happy to report he is back home in Annapolis and recovering well from his surgery. Please share this fundraiser with others to help us reach our goal by Friday — we are so close to reaching $15,000!

-Anne

My dad is recovering well after his surgery on Tuesday. Even though he only has half a pancreas, he still has a stellar attitude and a lot of optimism as he begins his recovery. Huge thanks to his Johns Hopkins surgery team for their amazing work.

Anna and I are on our way to the 90 Miler canoe race, which starts tomorrow, Sept. 8th. Thank you to everyone who has donated so far! We’re excited to “bring you along for this paddle” with us, so to speak. I’ll be posting regular updates on my Instagram @mcgarvsicle if you want follow along!

— Anne

We are blown away by the support this fundraiser has received in such a short time. Thank you to all who helped us surpass our initial goal of $9,000 in just over a week! As we head into David's surgery day and race weekend, we are increasing our goal to $15,000. Please help us spread the word by sharing this fundraiser page or donating if you can. Thank you for helping conquer pancreatic cancer with us!