'Stand Up To Cancer' helps Baltimore man get unique treatment
'Stand Up To Cancer' raises money for groundbreaking research
'Stand Up To Cancer' raises money for groundbreaking research
'Stand Up To Cancer' raises money for groundbreaking research
Baltimore's City Hall will be glowing red on Friday and Saturday, and the same thing will be happening across the country. It's all for Stand Up To Cancer, which to date has raised more than $480 million for research, and it's what helped a local man.
Looking at photographs of Bob Siskind, people can tell he has a good life.
"Family is everything; family and good friends," Bob Siskind said.
Siskind is tremendously proud of his children and adores his grandkids, and then there's his wife, Barbara.
"We've been married for 49 years. It's going to be 50 years this January," Bob Siskind said. "There are too many things I want to learn how to do. I've got a lot of stuff that I really want to do."
When he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he was afraid he would lose it all.
"I was looking at living a year, or two, because that's what my experience with pancreatic cancer is like," Bob Siskind said.
Siskind spoke about his father, who learned he had pancreatic cancer at 69 -- the same age Siskind was when he diagnosed. His father died within six months.
Barbara Siskind, a retired pediatrician, got to work researching and learning as much as she could.
"I knew that we needed to get to a major medical center, that was well known, not just as a medical center but for pancreatic research," Barbara Siskind said.
While receiving care at Johns Hopkins, Bob Siskind learned about a unique clinical trial. It could possibly save him and help other patients, too. The study is led and paid for by Stand Up To Cancer.
Stand Up To Cancer raises money through a national telethon for groundbreaking research. The clinical trial wasn't easy, but it was successful. His last scan was clean.
"I'm delighted. I've got my husband back. He's got his hair back; he's got his beard back. He can look in the mirror and see himself again," Barbara Siskind said.
For Bob Siskind, it's more time to live the life he loves.
"What this whole experience has done for me is it's made me more conscious of each day. Each day is a gift, and I've got to treat it as if it is gold plated," Bob Siskind said.