Hi friends, family, and beloved patients. I feel like I'm climbing Mt. Katahdin again. That's me in 2008-'09, my wife Ellen took that photo. I've summited this iconic and spiritual place 14 times. Some of those were at the best shape of my life, and two of those were at the worst following ruptured back and spine surgery. Battling pancreatic cancer is a complex ride of emotional ups and downs, physical exhaustion, and a constant inner mental battle that must remain positive and strong. This is similar to climbing a 1-mile elevation peak. It's hard. It's beautiful and horrible at the same time. Exhausting. Rewarding.
When treating cancer or climbing the tallest peak in Maine, there's always thoughts of self-doubt and criticism that must be dealt with. "How much farther now," and "can I make it?" The cancer patient needs to contend with these in a different manner from the mountain climber. Questions like "Am I strong enough?," "Why me?," and "This isn't fair, what did I do to deserve this?," invade your mind. On the mountain, you can always turn around and go back when the going gets tough. Cancer doesn't have an out. There is no give up and turn around. There is one direction...keep moving forward.
Here's my latest news from the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. Pancreatic cancer marker CA 19-9 is down from 210 to 115. The PET-CT scan (a test using radioactive sugar to detect cancer cells) shows a REDUCTION in uptake from the cancer area. This means the cancer is dying. There are still NO metastatic lesions, therefore no spread to my body. The Chest CT shows no spread to my lungs. The Abdominal CT shows reduced overall size of the tumor. Therefore it is responding to chemotherapy. My surgeon still feels it's going to be a challenging surgery, but this option remains on the table.
My family and I remain hopeful, optimistic, and know that we're at the best place with the best surgeon to handle this problem. I'm only 4 treatments into a 12 treatment regimen, so we have more cancer cells to kill. The Clinic team is very happy for us and glad to see that my cancer is responding. My doctors remain hopeful for a cure.
In closing, if you ever drive by Millinocket then give Mt Katahdin a wave from an old friend. I can't climb anymore, but I feel like those hikes were kind of a "training" for the real climb of my life. --Adam L.