Hello friends, family, patients, and others following my updates.
I have good and bad news from the recent Mayo Clinic consults in Minnesota last week April 15-19, 2024.
First the bad news, tumor cells have extended further into blood vessels that supply the stomach, small intestines, and spleen. This means that surgeons cannot remove the tumor. I will not have the Whipple surgery at the Mayo Clinic to cure the cancer. I must be straight-forward, this was a huge emotional blow to my wife and family. We shed too many tears to count last week.
Now the good news, the main tumor shrunk by 30%, the tumor marker CA19-9 came down from over 200 at peak down to 100. The radioactive glucose uptake on the PET scan reduced to normal. The CT scan shows dead/necrotic tissue in the tumor. This means we’ve had an excellent response to the main body of the pancreatic cancer.
Since the surgeons have taken surgical cure off the table, we must change tactics and move to the next step which is radiation therapy. This is combined with oral chemo medicine and the combination is hence called “chemoradiation.” Fortunately, while in MN they worked me in to see their top radiation oncologist who has published over 175 research papers. I was tumor mapped, and setup to the radiation protocols, computer algorithms, and had my tattoos placed for alignment to the radiation machine when I go back out there. This process took some time, but saves some crucial steps so that upon return we proceed directly with radiation treatment to blast the cells that continued to grow.
My treatment is planned for April 29th through May 17th. Final treatment is on my 51st birthday, and this feels like a good omen. Following radiation therapy, I will receive more chemotherapy infusions and take oral chemotherapy daily in order to maintain tumor suppression. My team feels this offers me the best chance for long-term remission. Using these protocols, patients can live many years to decades.
My wife and I remain hopeful that I can achieve similar results. But unfortunately, it seems that I will be living with cancer for the long-term. I will pursue additional consultations at John’s Hopkins in Maryland and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas, in order to see if their surgeons have success dealing with this type of locally advanced cancer.
I’m sorry to bear the news no one wanted to hear, but on the bright side we still have many options to contain the spread. I am not giving up and will continue the fight.
We appreciate all of your ongoing support, prayers, and well wishes.
Sincerely,
Adam L.