Sorry for the delays in updates, have been posting updates to Facebook and calling family, but forgot there are quite a few folks who don't use facebook and aren't seeing the updates.
How the surgery went:
Unfortunately, when they took dad in for surgery and did the initial laproscopy (where they make a couple of incisions and explore to make sure the resection is safe), they discovered some very small spots on the liver; these were biopsied and confirmed as pancreatic cancer. So at that point, they will not put the patient through this severe whipple surgery since the cancer has metastised beyond what they would remove. We are all very disappointed but not giving up hope!
Going forward:
Dad has a couple weeks of recovery from the laproscopy surgery (awfully sore for a few days!), and then it is back to chemo therapy. We met with Dr Hassan yesterday (oncologist at Freeman) who is conferring with his St Louis doctors to decide on the best therapy. I found several active clinical trials in Kansas City, Springfield, and even one back at Barnes Jewish involving a new drug showing promise at preventing spread of pancreatic cancer. Will try to keep this updated more often. We should have some idea of his next therapy options and be starting that plan next week.
There is hope for a cure. Checking for new drugs is a great idea. I know there are support groups that can help. The therapy option with a new game plan sounds like the way forward.
ReplyDeleteLove, Ray & Angie