First my daughter, now me

You may remember about a week ago my post about my daughter being diagnosed with cancer at 29 years old. Thank you for all the upvotes, kind comments and prayers lifted up for her and me.

In what can only be described as the most shocking and unbelievable event of my life, less than a week later I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. This is not a joke or trolling.

What I didn’t discuss in the post about my daughter is that I had undergone gall bladder removal surgery on May 14. It wasn’t important to mention because it was routine and I expected an easy recovery.

However, on May 26, Memorial Day, I began having severe pains again below my rib cage and developed jaundice. I saw my surgeon on the 28th and he ordered blood tests and an ultrasound. My bilirubin was at 11. Normal is 1 or under. He suspected a bile duct blockage and ordered me admitted that day and an endoscopy on the 29th, last Thursday. During the procedure the endoscopy doctor noticed a spot on my pancreas and called in an oncologist for a biopsy. Definite cancerous tumor, approximately 2-3 centimeters.

As far as we know, it’s confined to the pancreas and I should be eligible for the Whipple procedure after 6 rounds of chemo. I will then have 6 more rounds of chemo. It’s call Folfirinox and is specifically designed for pancreatic cancer treatment. It’s the only chance I have. Even then, it’s 50-50 that I’ll live 5 years or more. There are success stories of people living 10-20 years post Whipple. Obviously I’m hoping to be another.

Some may mention alternative therapies and I’m open to them but they will be in conjunction with traditional treatments.

What’s more is my dad died of pancreatic cancer in April, 2017. For those unaware, pancreatic cancer is one of the more deadly cancers. If it metastasizes it has a 95% mortality rate within 2 years, and usually sooner. His was not detected until it had spread throughout his body. He died in 7 months.

I have not told my daughter yet as I don’t think she needs that burden right now. I’m keeping it within a very tight personal circle to protect her until the right time, whenever that is. Yes, I’m scared, yes I’m worried, for myself and my daughter.

I’ll be treated at Grandview Medical Center in Birmingham by the Alabama Oncology group. If all goes well, my Whipple surgeon will be Dr. John Christein. He is well-respected in the regional medical community for this procedure.

I debated posting this as I don’t want to be melodramatic or cringy on a message board. I’m usually very private and it can be easy to wear out a group’s goodwill. But I decided there are some good, praying folks here and I need all I can get. As she and I prepare for the fight of our lifetimes I ask again for your prayers and positive thoughts. I appreciate it very much.