Jim Siskar

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.

On  Friday, September 18, 2020 Jim received confirmation that he has Stage 4 Adenocarcinoma Pancreatic Cancer from his doctor at Minnesota Oncology.

There are many good treatments available but his oncologist says they have had the most success with this drug combination.  Jim has had a port inserted in his upper chest. This will stay throughout his treatment and is used to administer the chemo into his body. He is scheduled for a round of chemo  every two weeks. His first infusion was on Wed., September 30th. He will be sent home with a pump that attaches to his port that will pump the chemo in over a 24-36 hour time period.
 
Doc says it will be important for Jim to focus on nutrition and to remain active.

It is a serious cancer and Jim wants to be aggressive in treating it.  It has spread from his pancreas to his liver and hip bone. If Jim did not seek treatment his survival rate is months. Since he is seeking treatment it could be years. This drug/treatment has a good chance of shrinking or slowing progression by over 50%. 

His doctor will check progress of therapy/treatments at 6-8 weeks with a CT scan and blood tests.

As some of you know, Jim's wife was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's in 2016.  Jim and his sons Jesse and Lucas have been taking care of their wife/mother Kathleen (Popelka)  as her disease has ruthlessly progressed.  So the entire family unit needs our care, love and support at this time.

Thanks for visiting. We will keep you updated on his progress when we have information to share,