Update 1/22/19
I now have a GoFundMe campaign to help with extreme medical expenses .
Please visit the site: www.gofundme.com/shelly-burke-medical-expenses (
http://www.gofundme.com/shelly-burke-medical-expenses)
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.
I thought it was some bad Mexican food I ate on December 2 !!! Ha ha !!!!On December 9 when I turned jaundice, along with diarrhea, vomiting and my body itching all over, I knew it wasn't the terrible Mexican food I ate in El Paso, Texas.
Upon my return from New Mexico, I continued to work and go about my business, feeling good despite the diarrhea, vomiting, itching and now back and neck pain. I honestly did not feel that bad. I'm used to pain !!!
I had gone to Urgent Care in Ventura on December 10 . I was examined and blood work was done. We were thinking liver issues, but when I got a call from my physician the next day to go to the emergency room immediately to have an emergency Ultrasound done, things took a little turn for the worse.
After 25 hours in the emergency room and Ultrasound, CT scan and MRI were done and the docs were unable to give me a diagnosis, I was transferred by ambulance to UCLA. I was scheduled to have an ERCP on Friday, December 14. I spent a total of 5 days in the hospital.
ERCP.....endoscopy with ultrasound under general anesthesia. A biopsy was taken and a stint placed in one of the bile ducts to allow it to drain and my jaundice would gradually subside.
I was told after the ERCP procedure that they found a tumor on my pancreas and biopsy results would take a week.
On December 21 I received the news that the tumor was malignant and I indeed have pancreatic cancer.
Thank goodness the jaundice came about, otherwise, I would have never given it a second thought that this could be something worse.
The team of Drs I have at UCLA are top notch and very knowledgeable in the field of Oncology Surgery. I will be having surgery on January 23 to remove the tumor along with part of the pancreas , part of my intestines and possibly the gallbladder. This procedure is called Whipple surgery.
I'll be laid up in the hospital for a week and retuning to Ojai for a long recovery. Chemo likely after surgery.
Grateful to have my friends and family supporting me and being here to help out.
Would love to have you send positive thoughts and prayers my way to get through this bump in the road.
I will keep you posted on the Caring Bridge site as to how things go after surgery.
Until then, sending love and hugs to each and every one of you.
XO
Shelly
