and here we are…

My dad, John went in to have a preventative Whipple Surgery on Friday April 15 2016. About an hour and a half into the 6 hour procedure we were pulled aside and the surgeon informed us that he could not do the surgery because he found cancer. He said he saw it on the outside of the liver, in the bile duct and said it had probably originated from the pancreas. On Thursday April 21 we met with an oncologist for the results and he was diagnosed with stage IV Adenocarcinoma of the Pancreas. Stage IV because it has spread to the liver, which is also why surgery and radiation are not options at this point. This is an aggressive form of cancer and if you look up stats/info it is terrifying. However, he is quite young at 52 and otherwise healthy. Due to this, he will be able to undergo the most aggressive form of chemotherapy, which the oncologist said that these aggressive cancers seem to respond well to.

This week he will:

Have a chemo port put in on Monday 4/25- DONE

Have a PET Scan (to confirm where all the cancer is since it never showed up on CT scan) on Wednesday 4/27- DONE

Have a new stint place in his bile duct because the current one was only a temporary one on Thursday 4/28

Meet with the Oncologist at UT Southwestern here in Dallas (we asked to be referred there for a second opinion and for treatment). 4/29

If everything goes to schedule, he will begin chemo treatment the week of May 2 2016. He will go in three times a week (day one (Monday)- receive treatment and have chemo pump placed that will release for 48 hours, day 2 (Wednesday) have the port flushed and pump removed and day 3 (Thursday) he will receive a shot which will help his immune system, which will hopefully prevent him from getting sick/ being hospitalized.)

The plan is to go in three times a week every other week. The first round of treatment will take 6 weeks. After the first round of treatment concludes we will rescan and see if the cancer is responding. The hope is that he responds well and we can remove it from the liver and bile duct and isolate it (and remove surgically) or eradicate it all.

This has obviously been a very trying time for our family but my dad feels fine, no symptoms, and is his normal self at this point. We are hopeful and gearing up for this fight. We appreciate all the support, thoughts and prayers.

I will do my best to update this with new information as we receive it.