Meet Our Intern, Sarah Eleraky
Please join us in welcoming Sarah Eleraky! Sarah is a first-year Rice University student studying neuroscience on the pre-med path and will be vital in ensuring that the patients and families staying with us in Houston have a seamless experience. Learn more about Sarah and her personal experience with pancreatic cancer below:
In 2016, my dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Clueless as to the prognosis of this disease, my eighth-grade self did a quick Google search only to be hit with one of the worst lines possible: a 5-year survival rate of about 9%. As time passed, my dad braved through treatments and surgeries left and right, traveling often in order to receive the best care possible. Despite the pains and burdens this disease threw at him, he kept optimistic and always made time for our family.
Despite the numerous treatment plans, the disease progressed further and further. It led us to appreciate every moment we had together to a greater extent. We traveled to Europe and took beach trips as a family and savored every single moment with an array of smiles and photos to account for it. There were times when I would briefly see a moment of pain wipe over my dad, but he quickly would tell me that he was okay and we would continue on our adventures. Never did he want to show “weakness”. If only he knew that I view him as the strongest, bravest person I’ll ever know.
The pancreatic cancer eventually spread further, leading to a bleak prognosis. In 2020, shortly after receiving radiation treatment at MD Anderson, my dad passed away. He didn’t let the disease get the best of him, though. From his diagnosis until the end, he bravely pushed forward through treatments, seeking out the best care he could find and landing primarily at MD Anderson.
My dad always had time to joke and laugh with my family and me, never letting the pain get in his way. He always put others first and made sure that my family’s needs were met before his own. One day when it was raining after a grocery store run, my dad ran to the car to pick me up in the front, so I wouldn’t have to get wet. At the time, chemo had taken away most of his hair and the raindrops felt painful as they hit his head. Nevertheless, he insisted that he protect me from being drenched in rain. But his selflessness and kindness didn’t only shine in interactions with me. He also employed these characteristics as he saved and improved lives daily as he worked as a physician.
While I’ve only listed a few instances, there are countless positive attributes and stories attached for which I could share about my dad. Pancreatic cancer may have taken his life, but his story and memories will continue to live on. I choose to live sporting at least a fraction of his bravery and optimism and joining alongside others to make the pancreatic cancer prognosis one that is far from bleak…a story of strength, optimism, and most importantly hope. - Sarah Eleraky