In the last six months my dad started having some health issues.?He has had digestive woes with enough pain in his gut that it hurts to lay down, so he has been getting very little sleep. He has lost a fair bit of weight quickly, too.?(Six months or so ago at his annual physical, he was proclaimed to be in great shape for his age, so this change has been rapid.)
A CAT scan showed what they thought was a cyst on his pancreas. These are usually but not always benign. Because of the weight loss though, they did blood work and a PET scan to rule out cancer. Unfortunately, those tests were consistent with cancer (PET scan only lighting up in the pancreas at this time).
He's going to have a biopsy of the pancreas to be sure, but they are tentatively confident he has pancreatic cancer. They do not currently think it has metastasized. If the biopsy is positive, he will do radiation daily Mon-Fri for 4-5 weeks, and have a chemo pump that gives a slow drip of chemotherapy 24/7.?
Apparently this new low and slow chemo pump is supposed to minimize the usual chemo side effects compared to getting a lot in an IV once a week (or whatever the usual schedule is).
I think the radiation/chemo is meant to arrest the cancer cells so they stop multiplying and hopefully prevent spread. If things look good, they might later surgically remove the cyst/tumor on the pancreas, which currently (CAT and PET) seems restricted to one area of the pancreas.
The biopsy is next Monday; I assume he would start treatment ASAP after that if it's positive.?
We're certainly not happy at this news; for a week or so there we were working with the idea of a probably benign cyst that they could maybe drain or cut out. We'd hoped that would be it and that its removal would resolve many or all of his symptoms.?
He is 83, and already weakened from the loss of muscle mass, poor digestion, and poor sleep of the last several months. So we worry about him tolerating the treatment. My sister Susan and I are going to take turns staying in Lexington to drive him to the daily appointment at Centerpoint in Independence. (Mom still drives in Lexington and nearby small towns, but is no longer comfortable getting on the highways and navigating the bigger cities.)
Here's hoping it goes well and leads to some relief and more time with us. Susan and I don't want him to suffer, and we don't want him to be debilitated--he has always been so independent. It is a big part of his identity, much more so than for example for my mother.
Just wanted you all to know what is going on. I'll keep you updated.
Love,
