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I suppose that stories start with "A long time ago in a place not too far from here..." Well my place is Port Townsend WA USA where I live with my wife of 32 years Caroline in a co-housing community called RoseWind. We are active Quakers and are members of Port Townsend Friends Meeting, North Pacific Yearly Meeting. We enjoy good family connections, including our children and grandchildren who live in Seattle, Portland (OR), and Centreville (VA). They are all supportive, but we wish they were closer.
Well, a long time ago started for me over 71 years ago, but for this story I will start with my doctor's visit on August 23rd. I had been having some stomach pains that had persisted long enough that I thought they should be checked out. From this appointment I was referred for an Ultrasound, and then to a CAT scan, and then to an Endoscopy. The result was a diagnosis of stage four pancreatic cancer; a growth about 3 inches long in the pancreas with some connections to my liver. Treatment for this is apparently limited to chemotherapy, which I started yesterday (9/19/2018).
The treatment was at our local hospital in Port Townsend and was only a visit of a few hours. I left treatment feeling good, and continue to feel okay today. I have medications that I can take as needed for symptoms, but there is actually no cure as the lump cannot be cut out of the pancreas. Hopefully chemo will stop it from growing and maybe even reduce it some. Unfortunately life expectancy for this disease is rather short, maybe a year or so. It can improve with chemo.
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