Posted by Victoria McCartney [email protected]
Dad first came down jaundice in April of 2003 just before his 63rd birthday and just after his announcement of his retirement. It was then that the ERCP showed a mass in the head of his pancreas. The doctor at Aultman Hospital in Canton, OH referred him to Cleveland Clinic to have the Whipple done. At Cleveland Clinic, the surgeon was unable to remove the tumor due to vein involvment but did a biliary bypass instead to allow room for the tumor to grow without obstructing surrounding organs as palliative treatment.
6 weeks after the biliary bypass was done, Dad began aggressive radiation treatment combined with chemotherapy at Aultman Hospital. The radiation oncologist there recommended this agressive treatment and the benefits seemed to outweigh the risks at the time Dad made his decision to move forward with treatment.
Dad then followed up with Gemzar chemotherapy treatment. His tumor had not changed in size until his most recent ct scan which showed a possible growth from 2 cm to 4 cm. The doctors were unable to tell exact size of the tumor due to a cloudy scan. The tumor marker CA19-9 test came back at 3377, so Dad started chemo again July 2nd. After that, he experienced some stomach pains, and more digestive issues accompanied by fatigue. He also battled infections tying to keep his white blood cell count up.
The most recent set back has been that he has begun to develop ulcers in his duodenum (the first part of the small intestine) caused from the tumor invading into that area. He has been admitted twice to the hospital to treat internal bleeding caused from these ulcers. The areas that are bleeding are so weak that he will no longer be able to receive chemotherapy treatment. Chemotherapy causes the red blood cell count to drop and his body would not generate enough platelets to clot the bleeding once it started if he remained on chemo. He has not received Chemo since the end of July 2004.
He has also started to experience more pain associated with the tumor pressing on surrounding nerves, etc. He has had severe abdominal and back pain and has been regulating it with oxycotton at home.
Mom and Dad made the decision to call in the palliative care nurse in our area. He will see her once a week for 3 months and then he will go onto the care of Hospice for end of life care at home.
It is my hope that more advances are made in the screening processes used to diagnose pancreatic cancer in it's early stages as it is usually found too late and the survival rates have an extremely grim outlook.
Also, places like John Hopkins University in Maryland have made significant advances of finding the gene that causes familial pancreatic cancer. Their chat room on their website is a great place for people with pancreatic cancer and caregivers of cancer patients to learn from one another and support each other.
Please click here to view a list my dad created of things that have helped him so far.
Please click on the following to view pictures of my dad and our family:
Vicky and Art (Dad)
Art (Dad) and Mary (Mom) on Mary's 50th Birthday
Mary (Mom) and Vicky
Dinner with Shane's Parents (Vicky's Husband)
Dad and Shane
Art and Mary Lou (Mom and Dad) Cruise Picture
Art and Mary Lou (Mom and Dad) Anniversay Picture
Art and Mary Lou (Mom and Dad) at Vicky and Shane's Hawaiian Luau
