a roller coaster ride

good morning to all. my husband and i woke up this morning happy to be alive. my husband was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last fall and was able to have the whipple surgery which was successful in removing the tumor on the head of the pancreas. the margins were clear, but there were a few lymph nodes with the cancer in them. he started chemo with gemzar 4 weeks ago and it is tough. 3 more weeks to go and then radiation starts. his doctor said he will be happy if he can get jim cancer free for 18 months to 2 years before it comes back. jim and i have faith he can beat this, but there is the reality that he may not. but today is a good day. we are closer than ever and i love being with him. tomorrow may be rough, but we will deal with that when it comes. hope you all have a good day and if not...hold on until tomorrow..it may get better. jimandkathy

Hi- i know what you mean about the roller coaster ride.  Last weekend my dad was doing so great, we thought he might be beating his cancer.  (his story is under "what a journey we're on")  This past week has been gradually downhill.  He's very weak, and now I wonder how much time?  I want to be with my dad to the end.  But how can we know when that will be?!  It could be tonight, or 2 weeks from now or...  It's so awesome that you can be with Jim and see him through.  Keep being strong, but allow yourself time to grieve, too, when you can be alone.

I'm praying for you.  Please pray for me, also.  rt

 

On 2/17/2007 Jimandkathy wrote:

good morning to all. my husband and i woke up this morning happy to be alive. my husband was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last fall and was able to have the whipple surgery which was successful in removing the tumor on the head of the pancreas. the margins were clear, but there were a few lymph nodes with the cancer in them. he started chemo with gemzar 4 weeks ago and it is tough. 3 more weeks to go and then radiation starts. his doctor said he will be happy if he can get jim cancer free for 18 months to 2 years before it comes back. jim and i have faith he can beat this, but there is the reality that he may not. but today is a good day. we are closer than ever and i love being with him. tomorrow may be rough, but we will deal with that when it comes. hope you all have a good day and if not...hold on until tomorrow..it may get better. jimandkathy

We too have been on a roller coaster ride since October 20th 2005. My 72 year old husband was diagnosed on that day. He had the whipple procedure,they removed his entire pancreas. The wonderful surgeon we had said he removed the whole tumor, he assured us he got it all. The pathology report showed cancer in one lymph node. He began 6 months of chemo along with cancer drug Tarceva. When we met with the oncologist in November 2005, we were told he had a year to a year and a half to live. We were in shock. He had never been sick, however he was a type 11 diabetic. After surgery he is now a type 1 diabetic with insulin shots 4 times per day. In our eyes he is a miracle,his last scan was February 13th 2007. NO EVIDENCE OF CANCER.  He will continue to have a ct scan every 3 months.  He has regained all his weight, he eats well,gets plenty of exercise,has no pain or any other medical problem other then his diabetes. The prognosis for pancreatic cancer is so poor however we truly believe he is going to be a long term survivor. We have a lot of faith and many,many people praying for him. The power of prayer is not to be overlooked. I sit here and read the message boards and cry with all of you. Please continue to pray for my dear husband as we will pray for all of you. NEVER GIVE UP!!!!!  Miracles do happen..