Hope Starts Here: Bringing Cancer Support to Spencer

When Spencer resident Doris Hammond found out she had pancreatic cancer, she was afraid that the diagnosis was a death sentence. According to the American Cancer Society, the five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is only 19%. Hammond underwent a specialized procedure called the Whipple surgery in 2025 to remove the cancer at the end of an almost yearlong treatment and recovery process, Hammond now finds herself cancer-free.

Many people aren’t lucky enough to hear those words after such a critical diagnosis, and since her recovery, Hammond had been thinking about what it took to get through, and what others in her place might have done or been able to do. Finally, she decided to found a support group in Spencer. The group, Hope Starts Here, had their first meeting on Oct. 19 and plans to meet every first and third Monday of the month at the Spencer Lions Club’s Lester F. Litten Community Building, 59 N. Main St., in Spencer.

Hammond’s intent is to create a place of support and education for any who attend, as well as encourage patients to advocate for themselves during their own appointments.

“If you don’t think [your doctor] is doing anything, move ahead. Nowadays, you don’t have to have referrals to specialists and you can call on your own. That’s what I did, and I am so grateful I did,” Hammond said.

Her own experience with cancer diagnosis started with a mis-diagnosis of pancreatitis by an emergency room doctor after feeling faint enough to report there on her own. She was put on a strict diet meant to help ease the inflammation of her pancreas but after a month without improvement she made another doctor’s appointment where a biopsy revealed cancer. A follow-up appointment was scheduled for three months later.

“They said ‘an oncologist will call you,’ and they did, but they said ‘we will see in three months,’ but I [knew myself] and that I might not be here in three months because I was very ill and I knew it,” Hammond said. “So I called Simon Cancer Center and talked to a very knowledgeable RN and they said ‘we can see you in three weeks,’ and that made a big difference.”

After reaching out to the local Chamber of Commerce and finding out that nothing like what she wanted to start existed in Spencer, Hammond knew she wanted to be the one to start it.

In their first meeting, attendees heard from individual’s experiences with eye cancer as well as from working RN’s about signs and symptoms of breast cancer. Hammond is looking for other medical experts that would be willing to share their knowledge with the group. Others invited to the group are those with cancer, people supporting those with cancer and even people simply interested in gaining more knowledge about cancer or the treatment process.

“We need supporters,” Hammond said. “Three of the people that shared at our first meeting had cancer. . .but we need people who are wanting to help others, and you don't have to physically do anything. Just send cards or talk to them on the phone or anything you can come up with. . . I’d love to have anyone [come to our meetings] that’s interested.”

Hammond also encourages people to come to the meetings and share their stories, both to help others in a similar situation and to get support from others.

“You don’t have to share it, it’s a very personal thing. . .[But] it is nothing to be ashamed of,” she said. “You can’t help it if you get cancer, so anything you can do to help yourself get through it [is worth doing].”

The main reason that Hammond started the group though, is simply from a sense of gratitude for her own health and her desire to help others. Her original goal was to stay alive long enough to see the birth of her 17th great-grandchild. Now, having recently celebrated her 87th birthday, her goal is to start and maintain this new group.

“If I can save anybody, one life, this program will be well worth it,” Hammond said.