BLOOMINGTON -- The new face of a pancreatic cancer survivor is Lori Groetken.

The energetic, sociable, 51-year-old Bloomington woman is not the stereotype of a pancreatic cancer survivor because there has been no stereotype.

Because 76 percent of pancreatic cancer patients die within a year of diagnosis, there have been few spokespeople for the disease that has the highest mortality rates of all major cancers. Few survivors mean few lobbyists for increased research funding.

But Groetken represents an increasing number of survivors: a trend that could grow with more early detection, aggressive treatment and research into causes, symptoms and treatment of the elusive disease, said her surgeon, Dr. David Linehan.

"A diagnosis of pancreatic cancer doesn't have to be a death sentence," Groetken said. "You can survive and thrive and there were about 30 of us (at a recent pancreatic cancer conference in St. Louis) walking around and proving it."

"Her life has been altered," said Linehan, chief of the section of hepatobiliary-pancreatic and gastrointestinal surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "But she had this huge operation and flew through it, she's doing well with treatment, she has a great attitude, she's motivated to get better and you wouldn't know she had pancreatic cancer - she looks great."

Groetken is a Bloomington native and the daughter of Char and Ken Huff. She has been married for 27 years to Cecil Groetken, a franchise area manager for Wendy's International. They have one son, Christopher, 26.

She has worked at Afni for 11 ½ years and is education manager, overseeing supervisory and manager development.

While she admits to not always taking the best care of her body, she enjoyed golfing, did her yearly doctor's appointments and mammograms and enjoyed good health.

On May 5, she experienced a cramp that developed into a pain in the upper right quadrant of her back. When she didn't get better, she went to PromptCare, then to her primary care physician who referred her to Dr. Kenneth Schoenig, a gastroenterologist. Schoenig ordered a pancreas scan and recommended that Groetken see a specialist who deals with pancreatic cancer at Barnes- Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.

"I was kind of numb," she admitted. "I was scared. I didn't know what was going on."

Calling a family meeting

Doctors at Barnes-Jewish did seven biopsies of the pancreas on May 27 and the results confirmed pancreatic cancer. Returning to Bloomington, Groetken and her husband called a family meeting.

"The family has been extremely supportive and that's been a big help," Cecil Groetken said.

"Lori is a very upbeat, very positive person," he said. "Once we got over the initial shock, we realized we needed a course of action."

The Groetkens decided that Lori would get treated at Barnes-Jewish, where a team of doctors were assigned to her case. That teaching hospital is affiliated with Washington University. A panel of doctors discussed her case and concluded that she should get chemotherapy to detach the tumor from a major vein.

That worked, making her eligible for the risky Whipple surgery, in which surgeons remove the cancer and anything it touches. Groetken is among 15 percent of patients with pancreatic cancer eligible for the surgery when the cancer is caught early, Linehan said.

During the 10-hour surgery on Sept. 9, Linehan removed her entire pancreas, gallbladder and spleen; half her stomach; one-third of her small intestine; and 18 lymph nodes.

Total removal of the pancreas is rare but was needed in Groetken's case because of the extent of the cancer, Linehan said.

Because the pancreas secretes insulin and Groetken no longer had a pancreas, she developed type 1 diabetes and immediately began insulin shots. The pancreas also creates enzymes to break down fat and nutrients from food, so she began taking enzyme pills.

"I was in a lot of pain for the first three weeks and had no energy. It was really hard. There were points when I thought ‘Is it worth the pain?'" Groetken said. "But my faith got me through.

"I never got angry with God and never asked ‘Why me?' That's kind of snotty."

She slowly got stronger and she returned to work on Oct. 26. In mid-November, "I finally felt that I was back."

Her "new normal" is checking her blood sugar level several times a day, cutting out all alcohol, counting her carbs, giving herself insulin injections and enzyme pills and taking chemotherapy on Friday afternoons at the Community Cancer Center, Normal, because five of her 56 remaining lymph nodes have signs of cancer. Her next CT-scan will be Dec. 17 at Barnes-Jewish,

Her boss, Cindy Blackburn, vice president of human resources, said Groetken is a high-energy, passionate worker who has needed few accommodations during her cancer battle.

"Lori has absolutely pushed through this and has had such a positive attitude," Blackburn said.

Linehan said while nothing is guaranteed, recent research at Washington University and Barnes is more optimistic, showing that patients who have surgery, chemotherapy and radiation have a 41 percent survival rate after three years.

"We remain positive," Cecil Groetken said. "We're going to beat this thing and that's all there is to it."

"I don't know what'll happen," Lisa Groetken said. "In the meantime, I plan on living."