[caption id="attachment_15277" align="alignleft" width="289"]<a href="https://mountainmedianews.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2015/11/bradyspowers.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-15277" alt="Brady Powers Mickey celebrates his 16th birthday in the hospital a few weeks ago. Shortly after, Mickey lost his full head of hair; nearly three years after his brothers had shaved their heads in support of their sibling warrior." src="https://mountainmedianews.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2015/11/bradyspowers-289x300.jpg" width="289" height="300" /></a> Brady Powers Mickey celebrates his 16th birthday in the hospital a few weeks ago. Shortly after, Mickey lost his full head of hair; nearly three years after his brothers had shaved their heads in support of their sibling warrior.[/caption] <a href="https://mountainmedianews.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2015/11/brady.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-15276" alt="brady" src="https://mountainmedianews.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2015/11/brady-300x300.jpg" width="300" height="300" /></a>By David Esteppe November is National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. Approximately 32,000 Americans will be diagnosed this year with pancreatic cancer, which is when cells within this glandular organ begin to multiply out of control and form a mass (tumor). There are a number of types of pancreatic cancer, of which the most common is called pancreatic adenocarcinoma and makes up about 85 percent of cases. Pancreatic cancer rarely occurs before the age of 40. More than half of pancreatic adenocarcinomas will occur after age 70. In an extremely rare occurrence, one of our own has now been warring this disease for nearly three years. Thirteen year old Brady Mickey began feeling unwell in February 2013. In March, he received the diagnoses of stage 4 pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Over the past three years, Mickey has undergone extensive chemotherapy treatments. Throughout it all, his spirits have remained high, and he has tried to continue his normal activities. In a demonstration of solidarity at the onset of this war, Mickey’s brothers shaved their heads. Mickey did not lose his hair. In addition to medical costs not covered by insurance, the Mickey family has incurred enormous travel expenses. Most of Mickey’s treatments have occurred at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, where he was required to endure week-long chemo treatments every other week for over a year. He is now having additional chemo and radiation treatments at Roanoke Memorial Hospital. When things go wrong, they really do. Recently, Mickey’s father lost his employment and the health insurance benefits with it. Now, the community is uniting to surround this family with support. Friends are working with two local non-profits who are working as a team: The Greenbrier Valley Community Foundation in conjunction with United Way of Greenbrier Valley is working to collect and distribute charitable gifts for the family. This process is making all money donated to the care of Mickey a tax deduction. Executive Director of the Greater Greenbrier Valley Community Foundation Courtney Smith explained that not only are all donations tax-deductible, but every dollar will go to Mickey’s care. The foundation is waiving all fees associated with processing the donations. “We are pleased to be able to establish this pass-through fund to help this family in this situation so their focus can remain on Brady and the family’s well-being,” added Smith. To contribute to this fund, send a check made payable to GVCF. Please write “BradysPowers” in the memo line and, send it to PO Box 1682, Lewisburg, WV 24901. You may also donate through PayPal on the GVCF website www.gvfoundation.org. Over the next few weeks, a couple of creative fundraisers will be announced. The Mountain Messenger will keep all informed with dates and times as they arrive.
