Kerri Paige: Choosing Hope for Herself and Her Daughter

For Kerri Page, pancreatic cancer has always been personal.

More than 20 years ago, Kerri lost her mother, Janet, to the disease. Janet was diagnosed in 2002 and passed away two years later, on October 6, 2004. After the diagnosis, Kerri underwent genetic testing. When the results showed she was not a genetic carrier, she thought pancreatic cancer was something she no longer had to fear.

“I figured I was clean,” Kerri said. “I didn’t know enough about it. I thought it was mostly genetic.”

A DIAGNOSIS THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

Then, in October 2025, Kerri started feeling sick. At first, she thought it might be an ulcer. Instead, doctors found elevated enzymes and diagnosed her with pancreatitis. An MRI soon revealed a tumor on her pancreas. “My world just came crumbling down,” she said.

The diagnosis was devastating not only because of what Kerri had watched her mother endure, but because she is a single mother with full custody of her 9-year-old daughter. Suddenly, she was facing the same disease that had taken her mom, while trying to protect her own child from the fear and uncertainty that came with it.

“It wasn’t just for me,” Kerri said. “The hardest part was having to tell my daughter all of this.”

FIGHTING FOR HER DAUGHTER

Kerri was treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where her care team removed the tumor through surgery. She underwent distal pancreatectomy, splenectomy, and the removal of 52 lymph nodes. Cancer was found in four of those lymph nodes, but her surgeons were able to remove the entire tumor with clear margins.

After surgery, Kerri began chemotherapy and recently completed her 12th round. Through treatment, she continued working, caring for her daughter, and doing everything she could to keep life feeling as steady and normal as possible. “The less scary it was for her, the less scary it was for me,” Kerri said.

That strength did not come from pretending the experience was easy. It came from knowing that, for her daughter, she had to keep moving forward. Having lost her own mother in her 20s, Kerri understood the kind of heartbreak pancreatic cancer can leave behind. Now, as a mother herself, she was determined to do everything possible to be there for her little girl.

“There wasn’t an option for me,” she said. “There is no way I’m going to leave my little girl yet.”

FINDING HOPE THROUGH RESEARCH

Kerri leaned on what she calls her village: family, friends, coworkers, and loved ones who stepped in when she needed them most. On the days she felt too sick, friends would take her daughter for the day so Kerri could rest. For Kerri, accepting that support became part of surviving.

Kerri first learned about the Lustgarten Foundation when her mother was sick. At the time, she remembers there being far less information available about pancreatic cancer. In 2003, she and her family participated in a Lustgarten Walk at Old Westbury Gardens. She still has the T-shirt.

After her mother passed away, Kerri continued supporting Lustgarten events. Now, after facing her own diagnosis, that connection has become even more meaningful. “Supporting Lustgarten, to me, gives me hope,” she said.

For Kerri, that hope is rooted in research. Her scans in April came back clean, a moment of relief she will never forget. “I’ve never been so excited to be referred to as unremarkable,” she said.

LIVING WITH UNCERTAINTY

Still, life after chemotherapy brings a new kind of fear. After months of active treatment, waiting for the next scan can feel overwhelming. Kerri is now looking ahead to additional scans in July and the possibility of joining a clinical trial in September. For her, participating in research is not only about her own future. It is about helping others who may one day face the same diagnosis.

“I’m willing to do it to help in whatever way I can,” she said.

Kerri knows the realities of pancreatic cancer. She knows the fear of recurrence. But she also knows that research creates new options, longer lives, and more hope for patients and families.

A STORY WITH A PURPOSE

For others facing pancreatic cancer, Kerri’s message is simple and honest: do not go through it alone. Ask for help. Accept support. Take care of your mind and body in whatever ways you can. And hold on to hope, even when the path ahead feels uncertain.

To Kerri, research represents more than scientific progress. It represents the possibility for more ordinary moments – school days, birthdays, hugs, laughter, and a future she is determined to be part of.

“I don’t want to ever be that person who has cancer and just moves on,” she said. “Something good has to come of this.” That good begins with turning her experience into purpose.  By contributing to research via a clinical trial and sharing her story, she hopes to help drive progress and remind others facing pancreatic cancer that they are not alone.