Candace Taylor became a nurse to follow in her mother’s footsteps. She now runs for her mother and those who have gone through pancreatic cancer and are unable to take a step and pave the way themselves.
An Unexpected Diagnosis
Judy Taylor was diagnosed with pancreatic adenocarcinoma in August 2021 after some uncertain and subtle symptoms started to present themselves. She started to feeling full after eating very little and eventually would become physically sick after eating every few days.
Judy would eventually make her way to her doctor to see what was wrong, thinking it was a bowel obstruction, only to be told there was a mass that had materialized on her pancreas.
Not only was there a mass on her pancreas but there were 2 on her liver as well, which forced the surgeon attempting her Whipple to stop the procedure and proceed with a comfort palliative surgery instead. Per protocol, the liver masses were sent to pathology for further testing.
She and her family were sent home with a palliative prognosis and unlikely more than 6 months to a year of survival. This did not discourage Judy in the slightest. “My mom’s favorite words her whole fight were ‘I am not a statistic, I am Judy,’” Candace shared.
Hope on the Horizon
A few weeks after the Whipple attempt they received a call from the surgeon with unbelievable news. The masses on the liver were both benign and unrelated to the cancer. This would make her eligible for the Whipple after all. She was encouraged to proceed with chemotherapy and head back to Toronto in 3 months to try the Whipple again.
A successful operation was completed in January of 2022. After her procedure, Judy continued on with her chemotherapy until May of 2022. She has been cancer-free ever since.
Since being declared cancer-free, Judy and her family live every day with purpose. “They just live every day with intention and [they are] very eager to keep going,” Candace said of her parents and their philosophy. “The fight never truly ends, but it has taught us to live every day.”
Support Through the Community
As for her daughter, Candace, the importance of support and community revealed itself. When her family was going through difficult times with her mom’s health, there was no shortage of support wherever or whenever it was needed.
Candace shared that being an ICU nurse and seeing worst-case scenarios often made it tough to be positive. Her mother’s diagnosis and treatment during the height of COVID-19 in Canada added to the stress.
When family members needed reminders of generosity and support, there were always people available in the community to come to their aid. That same support has since transitioned into support for Candace as she trained for and ran the New York City Marathon.
Racing into New York
Candace has run throughout her life, consistently through elementary and high school, but stopped around university. She picked it back up in the last six years and hasn’t looked back.
“It helps clear my head,” Candace said.
Candace had plans to run the Paris Marathon in both 2020 and 2021. In 2020, the race was canceled due to COVID-19, a situation out of Candace’s control. In the following year, Candace was unable to participate due to her mother’s diagnosis, another uncontrollable situation. In 2022 she finally was able to run the Paris Marathon. (My femur stress fractured on km 28 of that one and I had to slow down significantly but kept telling myself “Mom went through way worse than this you have to finish for her”).
This year, she was participating in the NYC Marathon.
“I’m grateful to have a healthy body, legs that can run under me, to not be in a chemo chair and this is for the people that are,” Candace said about finally running in the marathon this fall.
Staying Positive
Judy came down with Candace’s sister Joanna from Northern Ontario to cheer Candace on as she ran as a part of Project Purple.
“She’ll be wearing her purple shirt that says ‘survivor’ on it,” Candace said and assured that Judy would be the loudest one cheering in the crowd.
The Taylor family’s optimism and hope are how they made it through the hard days. “Every year the survival rate goes up. Every year that’s one more person out of one hundred that’s going to survive this and there’s no reason that can’t be you.”
Candace will be joining the Project Purple team again for the 2025 Chicago Marathon! To support Candace’s run, you can click here to donate to her fundraising page. To join a team of your own and get involved with Project Purple, visit our Events page.
For more info on Candace’s journey or to get in touch with her, visit her Instagram Page.
