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Wendy Hammers Pancreatic Cancer Survivor
Written By: Julia Brabant, July 2025For 10-Year Pancreatic Cancer Survivor Wendy Hammers, Laugh Lines Are a Lifeline
“Pancreatic cancer is the cancer that, when you tell people you have it, they look like THEY’RE going to die.”
It’s a line that lands at comedy shows because it’s painfully accurate – and it’s also a prime example of how Los Angeles-based comedian and 10-year pancreatic cancer survivor Wendy Hammers uses humor to inject lightness and levity into even the darkest moments of her life. But Wendy’s timing isn’t just impeccable on stage – it’s also something that may well have saved her life.
A little over 10 years ago, Wendy, a mother, wife, actor, writer and comedian, starting experiencing sharp pains on the left side of her abdomen, as well as digestive distress after eating. She also began losing weight rapidly, and while she was involved with Weight Watchers at the time, she found that she continued to lose weight even after she stopped trying.
Pancreatic cancer is the cancer that, when you tell people you have it, they look like THEY’RE going to die.
She visited a gastroenterologist, and after a series of tests, learned she had “Stage 1B” pancreatic cancer. This means the cancer had not yet spread outside the pancreas and her tumor was less than about four centimeters in diameter. While many people with pancreatic cancer don’t develop noticeable symptoms until their cancer has progressed to a later stage, Wendy was “lucky” in that her signs appeared early and obviously, giving her and her care team at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center ample time to plan and administer effective treatment.
Wendy began chemotherapy using FOLFIRINOX (the “Beautiful FU,” as Wendy and her team jokingly referred to it) within about three weeks of her diagnosis with the hope that chemo would shrink the tumor enough for it to become easily operable. The treatments worked as intended, and Wendy wound up having a Whipple procedure, a complex operation used to treat some qualifying people with pancreatic cancer.
The operation was a success, with doctors telling Wendy and her husband, Garth, that her margins were 100% clear after the procedure – meaning there was no remaining cancer. To be on the safe side, though, Wendy’s team recommended she have another four rounds of what they referred to as “life insurance chemo” to reduce the chances of a recurrence.
I’m not brave or courageous – I just didn’t have the emotional, physical, spiritual or psychological bandwidth to consider dying. The idea was too big for me, so I just picked living.
While Wendy was one of the lucky ones in that she caught and treated her cancer early on, she was also fortunate in that, unlike many people who have Whipple procedures, she did not become diabetic in the aftermath. However, she began taking CREON, a digestive enzyme many diabetics use to make digestion easier, as soon as she received her diagnosis. She continues to do so to this day, albeit to a lesser degree.
Wendy also sees her doctors regularly for checkups and scans. Initially, she saw them about every three months after surgery, and then every six months and every nine. Now, she has follow-up appointments once a year, and aside from a few bouts with stomach pain and gastrointestinal issues through the years, she’s remained healthy and cancer-free.
“I’m not brave or courageous – I just didn’t have the emotional, physical, spiritual or psychological bandwidth to consider dying,” Wendy said. “The idea was too big for me, so I just picked living.”
Wendy then doubled down on that choice, throwing herself into writing, meditating and exercising. But she didn’t do it alone – in addition to having help from her family and loved ones, Wendy also began working with life coach and long-term pancreatic cancer survivor Marisa Harris, who helped her learn to make herself – and her health – a priority. Diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer in 1998, Marisa shared insights and empathy with Wendy that helped her adapt not only physically, but especially, emotionally and spiritually.
“Cancer is a masterclass in self-love,” Wendy acknowledged, which was something working with Marisa helped her realize.
Unlike many people facing pancreatic cancer, Wendy also avoided looking online for statistics and prognoses, some of which can paint a bleak picture that doesn’t take into account recent medical advances or the specifics of a patient’s situation. Her husband, however, did scour the internet for facts and stats about pancreatic cancer.
He found that, according to Google, “pancreatic cancer is most common in African-American men over 65 who smoke and drink.” Wendy, a Jewish woman in her 50s at the time said, “Well, clearly, that’s me.”
While Wendy was unable to identify obvious lifestyle factors that could have contributed to her pancreatic cancer, her father also received a pancreatic cancer diagnosis after Wendy’s own. He passed very soon after, leading her to undergo genetic testing to see if there was a possible genetic component.
I tell them, ‘Don’t try to figure out the rest of your life. Manage your pain and live one day, or even one hour, at a time.
While the tests didn’t reveal any areas of concern that Wendy’s son needed to know about, Wendy’s father’s diagnosis shed light on something else: just how much mindset can influence the outcome of a pancreatic cancer diagnosis.
“Really, it seems my father died of a broken heart, as my mom suffered a major stroke and he didn’t know how to help or save her,” Wendy said.
Wendy believes this affected his will to keep fighting. The contrast between her father’s emotional state during his cancer battle and her own became increasingly clear – and also helped deepen her belief that a positive attitude and a vision of one’s future play a key role in overcoming cancer.
And that belief isn’t just personal – it’s become professional, too. Through her work as a stand-up comic, Wendy continues to rely on humor as a way to connect with people navigating all aspects of life, including cancer.
“If people in the audience have cancer or are caregivers, they totally get the joke,” she noted. “In general, all people need to be reminded that we need to laugh in the middle of pain.”
While she often uses humor to tackle topics others commonly avoid, like having sex while navigating cancer or chemotherapy, she does so in a way that leads to not only laughs, but relief for those who might finally feel seen.
At one of her shows, a woman diagnosed with pancreatic cancer approached Wendy after her set, sharing the fact that she drove 400 miles just to shake her hand.
“I’ve never met anyone who’d survived pancreatic cancer before. I just wanted to hug you and see that it was possible,” the woman shared, reminding Wendy of both the isolating nature of a serious diagnosis and why she speaks about her own cancer experience during her sets. Wendy’s also taken her advocacy for the pancreatic cancer community several steps further, frequently taking calls from strangers or friends-of-friends who are facing the same diagnosis she did.
“I tell them, ‘Don’t try to figure out the rest of your life,’” she said. “Manage your pain and live one day, or even one hour, at a time.”
Those who know Wendy best note that she’s a natural optimist, and that this influences her ability to help others develop similarly positive outlooks.
“And worry later!” she said. “Worry is all projection – we worry about things that aren’t even real yet.”
Wendy was also taken part in additional efforts furthering the fight against pancreatic cancer and participates in a fundraising run hosted annually by the Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research, based in Los Angeles. She currently travels the country as a keynote speaker with her talk, “I Broke Up With Cancer.” Learn more about her work here: wendyhammers.com/keynote.
She’s also found that having pancreatic cancer didn’t just change her health – it altered her entire outlook and perspective.
“I’ve become more willing to listen to my gut – it’s great irony, since the pancreas is in the gut,” Wendy said. “I’ve learned to trust myself; to make choices that place my health and wellness my number one priority. Pancreatic cancer gave me “the excuse” to put myself first.”
Wendy has shown no evidence of disease since her Whipple surgery in 2015.
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