ameraumi
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2006
I have shared a few PMs with Marsha and a few other DISers and I thought it would be good for me to come out of the woodwork.
DH was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer on Sept 30, 2008.
He started out with stomach pains, stone colored bowels, and dark urine. I made him go to our local hospital on Sept 27th because of the pain. It was only then I noticed he was jaundice. I never noticed it at home, so I do not know if it was the lighting or just me totally missing it. An ultrasound should there was a backup in his gallbladder so they wanted to do a CT scan to see if there were stones. At this point we thought he was facing surgery for his Gallbladder. They ruled out Hepatitis, which was my first fear. After the CT was done, the surgeon came in to tell us he was wanting Mike transfered to IU Med Center in Indianapolis as he had a mass on the head of his pancreas.
He underwent a GI scope and sure enough, the tests came back positive for cancer. It was staged a T4N1. There was some uncertainty on if he could have surgery as the tumor had wrapped around a vein and it looked as if it had touched the artery. His new surgeon ordered a more Hi-Def CT scan to see for sure and by the grace of God it was NOT touching his artery. He went into surgery on Oct 3rd to have a Whipple done as well as vein reconstruction. They removed one of the jugular(sp) veins from his neck and replaced it where the compromised one was. They also removed 13 lymph nodes and 8 had traces of cancer in them. The surgeon said he was confident he removed all of the tumor. His cancer was considered Stage III.
He healed quickly from surgery and within 7 days of being under the knife he was home without any drainage tubes. We had so many people, all across the US, praying for him and I believe it was the power of those prayers that brought him home so quickly. He had some set backs as he tried to do too much too soon and pulled a back muscle.
He was asked to take part in a clinical trial for GI-4000, a new drug being researched for certain mutations of PC. This is a series of 4 shots and would be done on top of the Chemotherapy. He chose to go this route instead of Chemo/radiation. He did not have a good feeling about radiation and wanted to help someone in the future if it did not help him now. The bad thing is, the trial is double blind, which means no one knows if he is getting the real drug or a placebo.
He started Gemcidabine (Gemzar) on Nov 26th. He will have 6 cycles, 3 weeks of chemo then one week off. On the off weeks he sees his Oncologist and then do the trial "drug". He was one of the few that sees a side effect of vomiting, but so far the anti-nausea drugs help.
We did find out last week that his CA19-9 marker was higher and they need to do a CT scan to see why. It could be nothing, or it could be that the cancer is back. I am glad they are being cautious and doing the scan now, but it does set my nerves on edge.
We could use a few more prayers if you have them to give. I would love to be able to post our journey along the way if you do not mind.
DH was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer on Sept 30, 2008.
He started out with stomach pains, stone colored bowels, and dark urine. I made him go to our local hospital on Sept 27th because of the pain. It was only then I noticed he was jaundice. I never noticed it at home, so I do not know if it was the lighting or just me totally missing it. An ultrasound should there was a backup in his gallbladder so they wanted to do a CT scan to see if there were stones. At this point we thought he was facing surgery for his Gallbladder. They ruled out Hepatitis, which was my first fear. After the CT was done, the surgeon came in to tell us he was wanting Mike transfered to IU Med Center in Indianapolis as he had a mass on the head of his pancreas.
He underwent a GI scope and sure enough, the tests came back positive for cancer. It was staged a T4N1. There was some uncertainty on if he could have surgery as the tumor had wrapped around a vein and it looked as if it had touched the artery. His new surgeon ordered a more Hi-Def CT scan to see for sure and by the grace of God it was NOT touching his artery. He went into surgery on Oct 3rd to have a Whipple done as well as vein reconstruction. They removed one of the jugular(sp) veins from his neck and replaced it where the compromised one was. They also removed 13 lymph nodes and 8 had traces of cancer in them. The surgeon said he was confident he removed all of the tumor. His cancer was considered Stage III.
He healed quickly from surgery and within 7 days of being under the knife he was home without any drainage tubes. We had so many people, all across the US, praying for him and I believe it was the power of those prayers that brought him home so quickly. He had some set backs as he tried to do too much too soon and pulled a back muscle.
He was asked to take part in a clinical trial for GI-4000, a new drug being researched for certain mutations of PC. This is a series of 4 shots and would be done on top of the Chemotherapy. He chose to go this route instead of Chemo/radiation. He did not have a good feeling about radiation and wanted to help someone in the future if it did not help him now. The bad thing is, the trial is double blind, which means no one knows if he is getting the real drug or a placebo.
He started Gemcidabine (Gemzar) on Nov 26th. He will have 6 cycles, 3 weeks of chemo then one week off. On the off weeks he sees his Oncologist and then do the trial "drug". He was one of the few that sees a side effect of vomiting, but so far the anti-nausea drugs help.
We did find out last week that his CA19-9 marker was higher and they need to do a CT scan to see why. It could be nothing, or it could be that the cancer is back. I am glad they are being cautious and doing the scan now, but it does set my nerves on edge.
We could use a few more prayers if you have them to give. I would love to be able to post our journey along the way if you do not mind.
Prayers said and will continue. 
So she will be on a med to lower the hormone level and then they will see her in 6 wks to go from there. 
