On Friday morning (June 3), Mom met with Dr. Sharon Weber, a doctor of surgical oncology at the University of Wisconsin Hospital. After looking at the CT scans that were sent from St. Mary’s, Dr. Weber told us that it’s her opinion that the tumor is currently inoperable. So our next step is to do a laparoscopy next Thursday to check for other tumors before beginning chemo and radiation.
The tumor (which I am considering naming Poco in order to encourage a tiny tumor with a slow growth habit) is in a part of the pancreas called the uncinate process. When it’s in this location, it can be there for a while without exhibiting symptoms, which may be why it could get to be 4×3.7 cm in size before causing problems. It doesn’t seem to have masticated (spread to other parts of the abdomen), which is a good thing. However, the tumor (Poco) is classified as advanced as it involves about three centimeters of the superior mesinteric vein (SMV), and Dr. Weber thinks it is unlikely that any doctor would be willing to operate at this point.
“So what do we do next?” you ask? We need to do a laparoscopy to look for tumors that may have spread but didn’t show up on the CT scan. We want to know this before we head into a chemo/radiation regime because radiation won’t be effective if it has metastasized. Mom called and made an appointment for Thursday, June 9 to have this operation done (it will be an out-patient surgery).
We would also like to get a wire stent implanted so Mom’s bile goes back to the GI track instead of draining externally. This would be another relatively minor surgery, and we still have to look into scheduling it.
Mom should be able to start chemo and/or radiation in the next few weeks. Depending on which course of action we take, the chemo/radiation regimes take around six weeks and then you wait another four weeks or so before doing a CT scan to see how much the tumor has shrunk. The goal of these treatments is to shrink Poco to the point that he can be removed (probably by Dr. Weber).
So that’s our news right now. I won’t have any further updates until after the laparoscopy results are back which won’t be until next Friday at the earliest. Besides reeling from the magnitude of this news, Mom feels all right, and we’re all pulling together to find our way through this maze. I know that we have a lot of people out there thinking of us and sending us their wishes and prayers. It is very much appreciated.