From Jeff's Daughter, Sarah:
A stomach ache turned into a nightmare. This story will probably sound all too familiar to pancreatic cancer patients and their families.
In January 2024, my Dad was told he would need to start medication to control his new diagnosis of Type II Diabetes. He was reluctant, but started the Metformin. He began to experience intense stomach pains while on this medication and swore he would make whatever changes he could to get off of it. He completely changed his diet and exercise regimen and began losing weight. The dedication to this healthy lifestyle put him back in control of his blood glucose and A1C levels without the need for medication. What a win!!
My parents wanted to make the most out of their RV this summer by traveling to visit family & friends, experience new places, and unwind from their usual hustle and bustle. In early July, my Dad started to experience the intense stomach pains again and was seen by a covering nurse practitioner and they decided to use daily Prilosec to see if it could relieve this distress. They were then off on a 2-week long trip at the end of July/early August planned for Pennsylvania and the surrounding area. During the last few days of the trip, the stomach ache was unbearable. They called a nurse triage line and were told to go straight to the ER. On August 9th, a CT scan was done of his abdomen and my parents were told there was a 6 cm mass found on his pancreas with a few suspicious areas on the liver - the radiologist believes this could be metastatic pancreatic cancer.
When my mom texted me that, my initial reaction was: they read the wrong patient's report, that can't be right. We were dumbfounded. Heart broken. And he was sent home with pain medication and told to wait for a follow up call to set up future visits. No clear direction. No ability to take action. Just wait it out over the weekend.
Well, the pain didn't go away, and two days later, we embarked on a 5-day inpatient stay at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee where more tests were done as we struggled to cope with the new reality of working with oncology, gastrointestinal, internal medicine, palliative care, lab technicians, nurses, and various other supportive care team members. It was a whirlwind, and in all honesty, it still is.
On August 27th, we had the initial outpatient consult with oncology. My Dad's formal diagnosis is "poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma w/ squamous differentiation w/ presumed pancreas as primary w/ liver and lung involvement" - Stage 4 territory. I will tell you...it's not a fun thing to Google. The road ahead is filled with constant pain management with patches, pills, and nerve blocks. We are chasing new symptoms daily and diving head first into chemotherapy.
We don't know what lies ahead - how many days we get or what those days will be like. In reality, do we ever? So we have decided to make the time to highlight the daily wins and celebrate the lifetime of milestones my parents have achieved to date.
THANK YOU to everyone for the outpouring of love, prayers, and support. We feel it, and will continue to lean into it as we keep pushing through.
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