Ms. Gonzalez Goes to Washington for Pancreatic Cancer Advocacy

Skyview Upper Elementary School student Sienna Gonzalez and her mother traveled to Capitol Hill Wednesday, June 15, with over 1,000 letters from Montgomery County residents and the surrounding areas, pleading for increased pancreatic cancer research and raised awareness about the disease.

They were joined by hundreds of people in D.C. for Pancreatic Cancer Action Network’s (PCAN) Advocacy Day and addressed legislators, asking for support of the Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act.

Pancreatic cancer “is the fourth leading cancer killer in the U.S.,” yet only received 2 percent of the National Cancer Institute’s research budget, according to a PCAN press release. According to the same press release, 94 percent of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer will die within five years of the original diagnosis.

Sienna, 11, asked her teacher if students in her class could write letters to legislators on behalf of pancreatic cancer to raise awareness and ask for more funding. Eventually, the rest of her school and the Methacton School District found out about the letters, and Sienna ended up receiving over 1,000 letters from students writing about their experience with cancer in their own families.

Sienna’s mother, OiYin, is among the 43,140 people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2010 in the U.S., according to a PCAN Cancer Fact Sheet.

Sienna said she wanted to write the letters and raise awareness because she wants to save her mom after she lost her father to lung cancer when she was 6 years old.

“My dad was very important to me," Sienna said through tears. "He was very brave.”

It’s this drive that took Sienna and her mom to Washington, D.C. where they met with congressmen and showed them the letters and stories.

“I made one congressman cry, reading a letter to him,” Sienna said of her meeting with Representative Patrick Meehan.

OiYin said she was impressed by how much the congressmen cared and by their sincerity, explaining how Meehan was patient with her family and hugged Sienna after the meeting, telling her she was his new buddy.

Sienna was also given an award from Senator Bob Casey, who was unable to make the meeting. Casey congratulated Sienna on her efforts and explained that he is a cosponsor of a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a Pancreatic Cancer Initiative.

“They don’t give these [awards] out till you’re in high school. The reason they don’t is because, my girl, she didn’t close her apple juice correctly and spilled it all over her award,” OiYin said, laughing.

But OiYin said Sienna isn’t your average 11-year-old. She said Sienna is shy and very private—when Sienna began asking students to write letters, she didn’t tell her mom at first. Eventually, it grew so much that she had to tell OiYin.

The school created a day for pancreatic cancer awareness, and students wore purple to show support.

OiYin said she was floored by all the work Sienna has done.

“I’m so proud because I don’t know how much time I have. It’s very hard to beat pancreatic cancer,” OiYin said. “I’m in this race to teach my kids so much and coach them, and hope that if I’m not around, they have these lessons.”

For more information about Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, visit www.pancan.org. The organization will host a Night of Hope Gala June 25 at the Hilton in Philadelphia.