In July 2018, I had some blood work done for some insurance, everything looked fine except for one of my liver numbers was elevated. According to the nurse, the result was something they often see in people who drink regularly for many years, but I rarely drink. Concerned, but not overly, I called and made an appointment with my doctor. It was almost time for my annual, so we scheduled it for late September. That way my insurance would cover everything.
I felt good, I had been eating better and exercising. I had cut out most high carb foods and so I was thrilled and not alarmed to be losing weight. (Other warning signs I missed or discounted; floating and light colored stool, elevated blood sugar, frequent urination.)
Before I made it into my doctor, the first week of September I get a hot pain in my abdomen.
The night it started, I had a hard time sleeping. The next morning I went into an urgent care clinic.
They poke and prod me, take some blood and tell me they don’t see anything, but will call me in a few hours with the results from my blood work. This is at about 9 am…
Hours go by…and nothing. I call the clinic and they say the doctor will call me back. The pain isn’t going away, finally about 6 that night, I am worried, my wife and daughter are worried. They talk me into going to the emergency room, were they pull blood, and after seeing the results (high liver numbers) they order a CT scan. By the way, the doctor from the clinic called about 8 pm while I’m at the emergency room.
After the scan the doctor comes in and tells me, my wife, and my daughter, I have lesions in my pancreas and liver and one of my lymph-nodes is enlarged. He then gives me a referral to see an oncologist and sends me home.
WAIT WHAT JUST HAPPENED…
Wow, I’m only 45, I take care of myself!
When scheduling to see the oncologist he orders a biopsy of my liver to see what kind of cancer it is. The results stage 4 pancreatic cancer! To be precise, stage 4 unresectable pancreas ductal adenocarcinoma. The prognosis, I had a life expectancy of 30 to 90 DAYS, with treatment, maybe 6 months…
In 2018 when I first looked it up, the 5 year survival rate for pancreatic cancer was 2%, for Stage 4, it was less than 1.
My response after some time to process, I prepared for the worst, but determined I would be that 1 %! Last week we celebrated 3 years since diagnosis. The fight goes on!
