Family and Friends, in late December, Doug Newcomb was officially diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic adenocarcinoma (aka pancreatic cancer). Unfortunately, the prognosis for this strain of cancer is pretty grim, and the cancer has significantly spread to his liver (given the metastatic nature, surgery in not an option). Doug is currently being treated at Anschutz Medical Center (UCHealth), and we’re fortunate to receive world-class care from the best doctors around (please continue to scroll down for more details on Doug’s story).
Visitation: PLEASE, NO VISITORS First, thank you for all your thoughts and prayers, and the Newcomb family is working diligently to find a way for you to show your love and support. As of the time of this writing (12/26), Doug is currently being treated in inpatient, and due to the spread of the Omicron variant, UCHealth only allows 1 visitor for every 24 hours. Due to these restrictions, we’re limiting visitors to Doug’s immediate family.
Our Story: Doug started feeling unusually lethargic after he and Jan returned from Hawai’i in mid-October. This eventually led to an emergency room visit in late November where the docs discovered internal bleeding from 6 ulcers in Doug’s stomach (the docs estimated he lost 20–30% of his blood). The cause of the ulcers was linked to some of the over-the-counter medication Doug was taking.
Even though the ulcers started to heal, Doug’s lethargy (and overall well-being) seemingly became worse, and this resulted in a second emergency room visit in mid-December. This time, the docs found unusually high enzymes in Doug’s bloodstream, and this led to a CT scan. During the CT scan, the docs found a 4” mass on Doug’s pancreas with several large spots on his liver.
At that point, the nature of the tumor was unknown, which led to an oncologist appointment just a few days later. After a biopsy, the diagnosis was confirmed as stage IV pancreatic adenocarcinoma (aka pancreatic cancer). One of the docs mentioned that the cancer was likely present, but remained undetected, for over a year.
Doug landed in inpatient because his sodium levels were critically low (which were tested at the oncologist appointment), and once in inpatient, the docs observed low potassium levels and a low red blood count that resulted in a blood transfusion.
As of this writing, Doug’s vitals have leveled off, but he’s still in a state of extreme physical and mental exhaustion (the simplest tasks are extremely taxing).
What’s Next: Doug will likely be discharged in the last week of December, and another visit with an oncologist is scheduled in the coming weeks. We hope the oncologist will guide us in the best next steps and perhaps a treatment plan. As of the moment, we’re carefully trying to balance quality of life and longevity.
Thanks again for your love and support, and we’ll try to update this page as much as possible with the latest (and relevant) news.
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