Around July 4th, my dad began having some stomach pain. He was out vacationing, so he tried to pull through that holiday weekend. After a couple of weeks, he became jaundice, (when your skin and the whites of your eyes become yellow) so he knew something was very wrong. He went to the doctor who recommended him to a GI, where my dad had a test done that showed his bile duct was surrounded by a mass that closed it up. The GI did a procedure where they put a temporary stent in so that his bile duct could drain. Because of the location of the mass, the GI suggested it was probably cancer, but wasn't sure if it was bile duct or pancreatic. Thereafter, my dad saw a surgeon who recommended the Whipple Procedure to remove the mass.
My dad went in to Methodist Hospital on August 9th to get the Whipple procedure done. During the 6 hour surgery, they found a pea-sized tumor wrapped around his bile duct. They removed the tumor, and a nodule in his pancreas. After the pathology test results came back from the tumor, they concluded that it was pancreatic cancer. 9 days after he had his inital procedure, there was a complication where his small intenstines disconnected from his pancreas. They had to go back in for a second surgery and literally glued them back together (can you imagine what kind of glue they would use for that?! hopefully not elmer's or krazy..) which really set him back a lot. He had already been up and walking and eating before his second surgery, and then he was back at square one. This is when I decided to put my life on hold and move here to take care of him through his recovery.
It proved far more difficult the second time for my dad to recover. The Whipple Procedure is the second most aggressive surgery to go through, other than Liver, so it really took a lot of of him. He was very weak for a long time.. he couldn't walk for 2 weeks and was on a liquid diet for over a week and a half. It was a very long and trying time. All the while, he kept the best attitude that he was going to beat this thing. There was such a great outpour of people coming to visit, calling, sending letters and cards. There were even folks who brought meals over for a month! Without all the love and support from everyone around, I don't know what we would have done. After what seemed like a lifetime, (total 32 days in the hospital) my dad finally was able to come home!
Even though I was so incredibly happy for my dad to come home, I was also extremely nervous and anxious- in the hospital, he had a team of nurses, nurse aides, and doctors treating him and caring for him round the clock. I had never done anything like this before, so I had no idea what to expect. The good far outweighed the bad, my dad was able to wear comfy pjs (no more nightgowns!) was able to walk and sit outside, and be around his family and friends. Since the surgeon had to go in a second time, they weren't able to sew him back up, so they kept his wound open to heal from the inside out. Since the wound was so wide and deep, my dad had the Wound Vac put in to help speed up the healing time and lessen the risk of infection. He gets that changed by a home nurse who comes three times a week. My dad has a love/hate relationship with the wound vac, it has really sped up the wound recovery time, but it is a heavy device that weighs him down when he's walking and is keeping him from going out places (other than to doctor's appointments.) Hopefully, he only has a couple more weeks with it.
Fast forward to now, October 6th, I am happy to say my dad is doing very well, and is becoming more and more independent every day. It is a very long process, and he still has a lot of recovering to do, but we're all very hopeful that he's progressing.
This past Monday, Oct 4th, we finally met with an oncologist for the first time at West Clinic in Memphis, TN. It was a very sobering experience, seeing all these people in the waiting room with no hair, very sick and frail. To quote my dad, "This is a group I don't want to be a part of." The Oncologist sounded very hopeful about my dad's type of pancreatic cancer- Adjuvant (post surgery) with chemoradiotherapy for the next 5 to 6 months, that he can be cured of whatever cancer he has left. This was our second opinion, but we were very glad to hear that the chemo drug gemcitabine used in Adjuvant Therapy has very mild symptoms. On October 20th, we will be heading to Nashville, to meet with a pancreatic oncologist at the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center. We're very excited to hear what they have to say, as they are the best in the state.
This whole experience is very surreal, and it's easier somedays than others. But this is life, life doesn't care about your plans.. it kind of just happens. I see cancer as both a blessing and a curse. Some people die instantly from a heart attack or a car crash and don't get the time to tell the people they care about how much they love them and vice versa.. Despite everything, I think this happened for a reason and I am so grateful that I get to know my father more and more each day and have an even stronger relationship than I thought I ever could.
Phewf, well that's enough for the first entry. I will try to keep this updated as much as possible.
Thanks so much for reading and caring, and for all of you keeping my dad and myself in their prayers, we appreciate it more than you all know.
Peace and Love to All!
XO, Katie
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