Pancreatic Cancer Is No Match for Tennis Player

Graci McGillicuddy has trouble sleeping most nights. Her mind is always racing, thoughts about her family, nonprofit organization and never-ending to-do list flooding her brain.

But when she steps on the tennis court every morning at 8, a wave of calm washes over her. As she tosses the ball in the air to serve, she tosses away with it any intruding thoughts. For one hour a day, she has a singular focus.

“When I’m on the tennis court, it’s just me and the ball,” she said.

She started taking tennis lessons after she moved to Sarasota in 1970. Watching her now move up and down the court, it’s hard to believe she is 82 years old. A bright orange tank top paired with a white tennis skirt, a diamond necklace and bright blue nails wrapped around her racket, McGillicuddy isn’t just playing the part. She’s out there to win.

She had no idea she would need to use that same focus she has on the court to beat the toughest opponent of her life: pancreatic cancer.

‘Keep Me on This Planet’

In August 2023, McGillicuddy came off the tennis court with a stomachache. She had lost some weight and felt nagging abdominal pain on and off over the past year but attributed it to stress. After more than 30 years of advocating for children, her dream became a reality in November 2021 when the All Star Children’s Foundation’s pediatric mental health treatment and research center opened. 

This time the pain was bad enough to tell her husband, Dennis, who suggested she make an appointment with their family physician. A blood test and abdominal scan revealed the unexpected: a mass in Graci’s pancreas.

“I was totally blown away, totally blown away,” she said. “I couldn’t understand how that could be.”

“I first went kind of numb, then my mind started spinning to negative stuff,” Dennis said.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers. The five-year survival rate for the disease is 12%. The only chance for cure involves surgery, but only 1 in 5 patients even make it into the operating room.  

Coming to Moffitt for Pancreatic Cancer Treatment

Graci was referred to Moffitt Cancer Center for a biopsy that confirmed she had stage 2b pancreatic cancer.

Pamela Hodul, MD

“Patients who have tumors in the body and tail, like Mrs. McGillicuddy, usually present in later stages because for many months they may have nonspecific symptoms of intermittent nausea, abdominal pain or back pain, and they just think that it might be related to something that they ate or maybe some stress that they’re undergoing in their lives and that the symptoms will go away,” said gastrointestinal surgeon Pamela Hodul, MD, in the Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology at Moffitt. “So, for Mrs. McGillicuddy, her cancer was caught in the early stages.”

While imaging showed one suspicious lymph node, Graci’s cancer was contained to the pancreas, making her a candidate for surgery. A second-opinion surgeon was hesitant to operate prior to chemotherapy because of the cancer’s proximity to a major artery, but Hodul was confident the surgery was possible.

“Given her vitality, I felt that upfront surgical resection was reasonable and that she would most likely be able to tolerate the chemotherapy afterwards,” Hodul said.

“When I met Dr. Hodul prior to surgery, I couldn’t help but notice her beautiful little artistic fingers and I just knew that I was in the best hands I could possibly be, and I was,” Graci said.

McGillicuddy’s husband and two children stayed by her side when she had a distal pancreatectomy to remove the tail and body of her pancreas and spleen.

Just two weeks later, Graci underwent a distal pancreatectomy to remove the tail and body of her pancreas, her spleen and the cancerous lymph node. When she was wheeled into the operating room, she had a medal of St. Peregrine, the patron saint of cancer, pinned to her hospital gown. Hodul and her surgical team placed the pin on Graci’s surgical cap during the procedure so it could protect her the entire time.

Hodul also made the surgical incision vertically so it didn’t cut through Graci’s abdominal muscles, hoping it would lead to a quicker recovery and less time off the tennis court.

The motivation to play tennis again and return to the All Star Children’s Foundation campus got Graci through the toughest days of recovery in the hospital after surgery. That, combined with her faith and the unwavering support of friends and family, helped her go home just five days later.

“I got well really fast,” she said. “I had just such a wonderful support system, and any time I got scared, I would just take God’s hand and just hold on. I prayed, ‘Please keep me on this planet, I still have to do a lot of work for kids, so if you take me too soon, I will be a real nuisance up there!’”

‘Cancer’s Got the Wrong Girl’

After Graci recovered from surgery, her care team recommended chemotherapy to give her the best chance of a cure. She was hesitant. As a mother of two, grandmother to six and great-grandmother to a toddler, she rarely had a moment to rest. Combined with her responsibilities at the All Star Children’s Foundation, busy social calendar and tennis, she didn’t want treatment to slow her down.

An Entire Care Team at Moffitt for Pancreatic Cancer

To help ensure her quality of life wouldn’t decline, medical oncologist Dae Won Kim, MD, personalized Graci’s chemotherapy regimen. For six months, she would receive a tailored chemotherapy regimen to help her tolerate all 12 treatments and reduce the risk of unwanted side effects.

McGillicuddy’s medical oncology team tailored her chemotherapy regimen to cut down on unwanted side effects and make sure the treatment didn’t decrease her quality of life.

The treatment hasn’t slowed her down. She is still very active in her family and work and even threw out the first pitch at a Baltimore Orioles spring training game hours after treatment. She spends a lot of time at the All Star Children’s Foundation’s new 5-acre campus, where she serves as co-founder and board chair, and enjoys being what she calls the “benevolent grandmother” to the children receiving trauma-informed care.

Graci also participated in two clinical trials at Moffitt. Researchers are testing novel treatments on a sample of her tumor taken during surgery. The goal is to one day be able to adequately predict which patients will respond to chemotherapy. As part of the second trial, Graci wears a Fitbit that logs her exercise and food intake that dietitians can monitor in real time. Researchers hope to use data from the trial to one day integrate a remote nutrition-monitoring program into routine care delivery.  

Graci finished chemotherapy in early April and is now waiting to see what her next steps will be.

McGillicuddy was able to keep up with her normal routine during chemotherapy, including attending events for the All Star Children’s Foundation.

“Mrs. McGillicuddy has always been an amazing person,” Hodul said. “I knew she would do well after surgery, barring no major complications, and I am not surprised she is almost back to 100% of her normal routine.”

Once again, for an hour every morning, Graci is on the tennis court.

“Either she said, or somebody said to her, ‘Cancer’s got the wrong girl,’ and that just rung true,” Dennis said. “It wasn’t, this wasn’t going to get the best of her.”

“Every day is a gift, and I just really want to do good,” Graci said. “I want to be there for my kids and my grandkids and my foster kids. I just wake up every morning feeling so grateful that I have a purpose and I have so much to love.”