February 16th update on Dad

Hey everyone,

People keep telling me that I need to start blogging about my dad's battle with cancer to keep everyone in the loop, so I guess I am going to try. I am not the best at this, but I will try to keep you all up to date.

Here is a very long story shortened...

Back in September my dad, Jay, started feeling kind of off. His appetite wasn't all that good, he felt a little sick to his stomach, less energy, weight loss (he started at about 200 lbs and lost 12 pounds during this time) etc. After a couple of weeks of that he went in to his doctor to try to figure out what was up. After about a week, on a Friday, they decided to do a CAT scan and immediately found a 2.5 cm. mass on his pancreas. It seemed like our world was turned upside down in that moment. It was a LONG weekend filled with wild thoughts, tears, and anxiety. Early the following Monday he went in for an endoscopic procedure to biopsy the mass and a few days later we were told that he had adenocarcinoma of the pancreas.

A couple of weeks later Dad started what they called the most potent and effective chemotherapy regimen available for pancreatic cancer. It was horrible. One treatment every other week for 4 treatments total. Doesn't sound like much does it? Within one week of his first treatment he went from 188 lbs to 168 lbs. 20 lbs in one week! I felt like he was dying right before my eyes. It was horrifying. He was so sick. Anyway, he survived the 8 weeks. They had to lower his dose after that first treatment, and he had to go in multiple times to get fluids and was actually hospitalized once for a few days to get him hydrated and his electrolytes stabilized. It was such a difficult time for all of us, but I am so glad that I had the blessing of being there to help take care of him. We are living with my parents right now while we both build homes so my family and I have been in the mix of all of this since it began. We broke ground on our house 3 days before dad's CAT scan that found the mass. Interesting how things happen the way they do...

So, he survived that round of chemo and in the end, the scan at the end of the treatment showed that the tumor had not shrunk at all, but that the activity of the cancer cells seemed to be decreased. From there he was given about 8 weeks to recover from chemo and prepare for a surgery called the Whipple. He had gotten down to about 157 pounds. Literally skin and bones. It took a few weeks, but he finally started to put some weight back on. He took the initiative to get himself into some physical therapy and ate really well and really started to feel pretty good. During the last few weeks of that time he was actually able to do some work on their house. It was pretty amazing. He got up to about 185 pounds, which we were so happy with.

On February 2nd dad went in for surgery, the "Whipple". It took 8 hours and they removed half of the pancreas, the duodenum (part of small intestine), and 28 lymph nodes. They also scraped the tumor off of his portal vein, but didn't have to resect this major vein that the tumor had been pressing up on. Dad did amazingly well. The doctors said that he was the best whipple patient they had ever seen! They did find in the pathology report that 7 of the 28 lymph nodes did have the same adenocarcinoma cells and if anything, the tumor had grown. This was so disappointing. At that point they told us that in a month, Dad would start radiation 5 days a week for 5 weeks as well as more chemotherapy. We had been told before the surgery that most likely he wouldn't have to do any more of this :(

After a week, they sent him home on a regular diet and some pain pills, but within an hour of being home he took a turn for the worse. It was late in the evening and his pain became very intense and then the sweating started. Mom was up with him all night changing clothes time after time, mopping up his sweat. The man that was doing laps through the hospital couldn't even walk from the bedroom to the couch. Sam and I slept through it all... The next morning, Friday the 10th, we called the Dr. and made plans to come in for a CAT scan at 12:30. By the time we started preparing to go, Dad couldn't even stand long enough to change his clothes. Skoby and I had to carry him through the house, down the stairs and out to the car. When we arrived at the hospital (Huntsman Cancer Hospital) we got him in the wheelchair and he quickly lost consciousness. Any nursing experience I have had stayed locked up in a box as I panicked and ran for help. It was so scary! He came to about 30 seconds later and we quickly made it up to the clinic where they efficiently got him going with some fluids and oxygen.

Anyway, sorry for all the details. He started feeling significantly better with the fluids and was able to do his CAT scan. Okay, I really am going to shorten some of this... Dad ended up being admitted back in the hospital that day. They did find infection in some fluid in his belly and started him on antibiotics, and put in an NG tube to empty his distended stomach that didn't seem to be working. He continued to get worse and ended up in the ICU Sunday night because of a rapid heart arythmia (Atrial Fibrillation) and low blood pressure. He stayed there for 2 days where they got his heart stable. During that time the infection was causing him to be VERY confused. He is much more with it mentally now and he is now back on the regular surgical unit, exactly a week from the time he went home from the surgery. He has gotten 4 units of blood in the last few days and he has gained about 30 pounds! Crazy when he hasn't eaten hardly anything. So today they did another CAT scan of his belly and found a very large amount of fluid, probably about 30 pounds worth between that and his swollen legs! So, we will find out in the morning what they are going to do about that. Most likely they will either place a drain with during a paracentesis or take him back in the operating room and use a scope to clean it out and place one or more drains.

SO, I am going to pull out this super comfy hospital couch and try to get some sleep now. My dear mother has been here on this couch many nights and I convinced her to sleep in her own bed tonight. Thank you to all of you who care and want to know what is going on with my amazing dad. And thanks to all of you who have helped in one way or another. We love you all.

Night.

Darcy