In January 2018, Pat had an MRI due to pain that he was having in his left side. The MRI showed a 1 cm cyst on his pancreas. The doctor at the time was not concerned about the cyst, but wanted Pat to have yearly monitoring to see how the cyst grew from year to year. February 1st, Pat had his annual MRI. On February 6th Pat had his follow up from the MRI, and the doctor used the phrase “probable and suspected cancer.” The doctor then requested a biopsy to determine whether it was cancerous or not. February 19th the biopsy was performed, and on February 23rd, the doctor called Pat to confirm that cancer was present.
On Wednesday, February 27th, we had an initial appointment with an oncologist, who told us it was much worse than anyone expected. The meeting with the oncologist last about an hour and a half and was very informative. The oncologist stated the cancer had spread from the pancreas to the liver, and when that happens, the cancer is at stage 4.
The oncologist is saying it's at Stage 4. Surgery and radiation are not options due to it already spreading to the liver.
They showed us a side by side scan from January 2018 compared to February 2019, and it’s bad. In 2018 there was only a 1 cm lesion on the pancreas and nothing on the liver. And now as of February 2019, there’s a 3 cm lesion on the pancreas and several spots on the liver, so the doctor is concerned about how quickly and aggressively it’s spreading.
The first chemo treatment is next Wednesday March 6. He has chemo every other Wednesday. On treatment days, he will go home with a pump for 48 hours to continue treatment at home, then will get the pump discontinued on Fridays after treatment. He had 4 treatments, so 8 weeks total. And after that they’ll do another scan to see how the chemo is working so far.
The oncologist was very real and upfront with us during the initial appointment. He stated the prognosis doesn't look too promising, as this type of cancer is incurable and typically people only have "months but not years left"
This is going to be a difficult time for Pat and his family. We are going to try to keep this website as updated as possible with information that we find out along the way. The family asks that for any contact needed going forward, please contact Donny (son) at 317-413-0669 or Brittany (daughter) at 317-797-6020. The family also has an email address that words of encouragement can be sent to patscancerfight@gmail
It’s so unfortunate that my dad does not get the visitation and funeral services that he deserves and had planned for. However, thanks to technology, the funeral tomorrow will be live on Facebook. To watch the funeral service live, type in @LauckVeldhof in the search engine at the top of the screen and you should be directed to the Facebook page to watch the service live on Friday, March 27 at 1 p.m. You can also view the service later and share it if you wish.
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