Welcome to my 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. I know this was not just luck that all of this transpired and was found so early in both areas, definitely through God's hands. Thank you for visiting.
My journey started in the fall of 2021. My primary doctor felt my liver was enlarged so she sent me for an ultrasound. My liver is healthy, although slightly enlarged, but they found a small mass in my pancreas during the ultrasound so I had a MRI on November 1, which confirmed there was a small mass so followed up with an Endoscopic Ultrasound with Biopsy on November 8 which confirmed the GI Doctor's speculation that it was a Neuroendocrine tumor which only accounts for 7% of all pancreatic cancers. I met with a surgeon at Sanford who gave me my options of watch and see as it's a slow cell divider and stable, or have a Whipple surgery that would remove part of my pancreas, stomach and small intestine as they overlap in that area. He also mentioned that my gall bladder needs to go as it has over 100 stones. He recommended my getting a 2nd opinion so that I would be comfortable with my decision.
I headed to Mayo on January 25/26. I had a CT and PET/CT with Gallium Dotetate and then I met with the Neuro-Endocrinologist and a surgeon. Prior to seeing my Pet/CT they had decided on one action - watch with scans every 4 - 6 months, but my PET/CT showed a 2nd separate neuroendocrine tumor (NET) in my Ilium (small intestine) that also had some lymph node involvement in a couple of spots. This tumor was the size of a pen tip but is considered a carcinoid and has to go. I will be having a small bowel resection, removal of the involved lymph nodes and my gall bladder out for sure on February 24 at Sanford Health in Fargo. Original plan was surgery at Mayo but that was denied by my health plan, so it's with a surgeon here at Sanford that I met with in November. I will have Scans every 4-6 months on my Pancreatic NET to keep an eye on that one.
This site was created to make it easier for my daughter to update my family and friends during this time. I will not be having radiation or chemo, NETS are treated by surgery and possibly down the road with a hormone injection if needed. You never know also what treatment might come along as we go.
Everything is stable which is great news! In fact the tumor in my pancreas appears slightly smaller but my oncologist said that could be from the way scan is done each time. I was concerned as the last test result that came in this morning was a little high but he wasn’t as the scans were clean. He’ll see me in 6 months.
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