A Major Curve Ball

Sometimes life throws a curve ball at you, and I had a pretty major one lobbed my way in June. I now know more about the pancreas than I ever wanted to know.

Right before Happy Trails in June, doctors discovered that a mass on my pancreas had begun growing. We found it by accident three years ago and it's been checked annually from then on. The tumor had been unchanged until this year's CT scan in June when it was discovered that it was now 4 CM in diameter. 

A few days after Happy Trails was over I went down to Indianapolis and had it biopsied, and the mass was even larger, having grown another centimeter in just three weeks. It was determined to be precancerous and had high cancer markers within the fluid. (It's called a Mucinous Cystic Neoplasm.) 

I have discovered that when your pancreas starts going awry, you get a lot of attention from people in the medical field and things happen fast. We got home from our trip to BreyerFest and Tennessee Monday night and then turned around on Tuesday at 6 AM to head south to Indianapolis to meet with my surgeon at 8:00 and then do my preops. We thought we'd be at the hospital two hours; I was with the surgical team for six hours! 

Because the tumor continues to grow, it is now too big for laparoscopic removal so I will need the open incision surgery to remove it. Within the mass is a smaller nodule with hard walls, and Dr. Schmidt, the surgeon, said that there was a 10% chance that the nodule was cancer. (Overall, those are good odds.) 

He discussed cancer protocols with me, just in case, and what he would do to remove any cancer that might be found. Along with half of my pancreas, he is also removing my spleen and lymph nodes, which means I will have lowered immunity for the rest of my life and need to be careful when I am ill. 

 After meeting with the surgeon, I had to have three vaccinations to boost my immunity going into surgery, blood work done, an EKG, and X-rays. I met with the team social worker who will coordinate home health care for me after I go home, and the team nutritionist who spent an hour going over what I need to be eating to build my body for surgery and recovery. I have exercises to do, a new vitamin regimen, and daily breathing practice to build up my lungs. I even have to brush my teeth four times a day to make sure my mouth is as bacteria-free as possible.  

The nifty case on wheels I was given to carry all my surgery prep items in. Won't it work well for model horse shows when this is all over?

The surgery will be done in Indianapolis and I will be in the hospital for 5-7 days, possibly more. Recovery at home will be 2-3 months. I had to cancel my entry to the August GLC show as I won't be able to drive that far or carry tubs of model horses. But I will be able to help out at The FAMulous Collectibility Show I am holding with Allison Pareis on September 14. 

I am more than a little overwhelmed by what is ahead but I LOVE the team that is in place to care for me - in fact, I got a call from one of them yesterday and was called "honey" twice and "sweetheart" three times. I also have the surgeon's and head nurse's cell phone numbers and been told to call any time and to not worry about bothering them. Clearly, pancreatic surgery is a big deal, bigger than I ever imagined.

 But I think I am almost ready to go. Wish me luck.