Lisa Tuzon

Lisa's story: After almost 2 years of being misdiagnosed Lisa was diagnosed with a pancreatic cyst in December of 2016. She had surgery to remove the cyst on December 7th. The cyst was 2 1/2x the size of a mans fist and encapsulated 1/3 of her pancreas. Once removed Lisa became an insulin dependent diabetic. We waited several weeks to hear the final pathology of the cyst. Unfortunately she was diagnosed with stage 2 pancreatic cancer. Beginning in January of 2017 Lisa began 6 months of chemotherapy. Chemotherapy was very difficult on Lisa's body. She suffered many side effects from the medications. July 2017 Lisa had completed her final chemotherapy. Within a few weeks Lisa began suffering from extreme nausea and vomiting. She was hospitalized for a possible bowel obstruction and pancreatitis. While hospitalized a CT scan was completed and and it was determined that there was a possible mass on her pancreas. A PET scan was completed and it was determined that Lisa's cancer had returned bigger than her original tumor and had spread to her liver, peritoneal cavity, and a spot on her oblique. We saw several specialists that advised that chemotherapy could be restarted to try to contain the growth of the tumors however there was to be no cure. After many conversations Lisa decided she wanted to live the rest of her life to the fullest and it was decided to not continue with chemotherapy.
Lisa had several more episodes of extreme pain with vomiting and was hospitalized in August. She spent 18 days in the hospital attempting to control the pain and nausea. After many medications and procedures her gastroenterologist determined that a G tube (a small tube to remove the contents of her stomach) was her best option for nausea and pain management. The G tube was placed and her nausea began to subside. Being in the hospital for so long became depressing  and it was determined that she could be moved to the Bruns house which is a hospice home in Alamo. She was moved there and she stayed a week to get her pain medications switched from IV to oral medications. Once we were able to get dosages of the oral pain medications stabilized we were thankfully able to move her home on home hospice care. Lisa is currently doing well. We are continuing to monitor her pain and keep her comfortable. We will be working with the hospice team to make sure she has the best care possible. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.