Last July my father was diagnosed with stage 2 pancreatic cancer. It was a 2cm tumor on the head of his pancreas.
My father was the most physically fit person I know. He was able to handle Whipple Surgery and came out of it allright, except for an infection which extended the healing time for his wound. He began a round of chemo in October as a preventative messure and that continued along until March. It was mild accoridng to the doctors. His hair grayed and he looked a little more tired. He was given break for a month and then was administered radiation treatment plus a chemo drug he would take every day as part of the preventative treatment's second phase.
The radiation and chemo combo was fine for two weeks but by the third week, things went awry. He started having extreme cases of Montezuma's Revenge. His blood pressure dropped too because of dehydration and the chemo meds interacting with the Coumadin he takes for afib. The doctors told him to eat ramen noodles because he needed the sodium. He does not want eat them because they are not healthy, eventhough his doctors told him to eat that.
Today I drove him to the hospital because he is very weak from loosing all the fluid. He was moving so slowly and looked like someone much older than his 63 years would reveal. I am feeling a mix of anger and frustration and sadness at him not following the doctor's orders. At the same time, I am trying to remind myself that he is one of the lucky ones and when this is over, things will be better.
I know compared to much of what is posted here, this may seem petty and almost silly to others dealing with much dire situations. That maybe the case but I am struggling with this and hoping others here can lend some sense of perspective I have not come to yet. Thank you.