Cancer Updates

So I had the best of intentions on keeping this blog updated on the daily with all things cancer related so I would have a good timeline to look back on and you can see how successful I was…

Anyhoosit, Lots of things have been happening, the first of which is that it is definitely cancer.

So I had the stent placed in my bile duct on the 11th of this month while I was still in the hospital.  It went pretty smoothly other than getting a fat lip and my jaw locking closed for a day or so due to all the shit they had to put in my mouth (it was an endoscopic procedure with a breathing tube).

The next day they put me on solid foods, did some blood work to make sure my liver levels went down and my jaundice was improving and sent me on my way home.

Before I was released I met with my oncologist and the doctor that is going to do my surgery.  It was a lot of information coming at me at once.

I got home and had some stomach issues for a few days but the best news was that my doctor cleared me to go to the Yungblud concert so I was stoked.

I’ll try and blog about that separately but I had the BEST time.  My stomach miraculously cleared up the day we drove out so I was able to enjoy my first of many pain free meals that day and it was perfect.  Taylor and Jordynne were perfect traveling companions that kept me laughing and made me feel like I was normal for a couple of days given all that was happening.  And of course the concert itself was AMAZING!  I had so much fun and I’m so glad I was able to make those memories before the hard stuff started.

Okay so, the day before I left for Vegas, Rob and I had a video call with my oncologist and that was HARD.  It was a lot of information and she confirmed it was cancer and a chemo treatment plan so that made shit real, real fast.

So the plan that was hatched is that I am to get 6 rounds of chemo at 12 weeks starting on June 8th.  After that I will get what is called a Whipple surgery where they are going to basically remove the head of my pancreas where the tumor is along with part of my small intestine, reroute everything back to what is left of my pancreas and hopefully they can get it all.  Once I have recovered from that, I am to get another 12 weeks of chemo and hopefully have the whole thing wrapped up by the beginning of 2027.

It’s a lot and it’s scary.

I’m also bummed that we are going to have to cancel the trip to Denmark/Sweden that we had planned for October to see my band Europe.  Sweden has been on my bucket list since I was 14 years old and I was finally going to get there but obviously that’s not an option now.  Even if they somehow paused the last chemo session so I could go, I would be severely immune compromised so traveling abroad doesn’t sound like a smart idea.

Yesterday, I had my bile duct stent replaced.  When they placed the first one, they weren’t sure of my treatment yet so they put in a plastic one (thinking I would have the surgery first and the whole thing would get removed during the procedure and a new bile duct created).  But because I’m doing chemo first they needed to replace it with a metal one as the plastic one wouldn’t have lasted the whole four months or so.

I went in on an outpatient basis and right from the start it felt different.  I woke up from the procedure boiling hot with my lungs burning and nauseated, whereas the first time I only had the fat lip and the jaw problem.  I just figured it was because it was a much shorter surgery this time and I was still reeling from the anesthesia, but by ten o’clock last night I was in pain and nauseous.  They warned me that I could develop pancreatitis from the surgery and if that happened (severe abdominal pain and vomiting) to head to the ER.

By 12:30 am I couldn’t get comfortable, major pain and I was throwing up.  I reluctantly woke Rob up and we trudged into the ER.  I was miserable and could barely walk.  They got me right into a room and hooked me up with morphine and an anti nausea medicine. Got me in for a CT scan and blood work and then we waited.  The morphine was great but wore off within 45 minutes.  After an hour of the first dose they were able to give me more and I passed the fuck out.

When I woke up the doc was there telling me I didn’t have pancreatitis, that my laps and CT scan looked great and that it was likely just a reaction to them futsing around in my guts.  I also felt 75% better once I woke up so I was hoping that I was out of the woods.

They gave me some water to see if I could keep it down and I did so they released me with some pain meds and anti nausea stuff and we were home by around six this morning.

I immediately went to bed and passed out and wasn’t very hungry when I woke up but I have since been able to keep down some cream of wheat, cheerios and a handful of puffcorn so I’m thinking I’m for sure on the mend.

It was just so freaking weird to me how much pain I was in when I got there and that it wasn’t actually pancreatitis.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m super thankful as that would have landed me back to being admitted for several days and probably start delaying the chemo.

Monday I get my chemo port in and I’m pretty nervous about that.  They have to surgically implant it in my vein near my collarbone and that just seems like it would be uncomfortable.

The chemo, as I understand it, will be about five or six hours in the chemo office and then I will be sent home for two days with a continuous pump.  After those two days I go back and have that disconnected and then recover for the rest of the two weeks before starting all over again.

Tomorrow is my birthday but it doesn’t feel much like a celebration to me.

We are having a group party at my father in laws as Rob’s bday was on the 11th, mine is tomorrow and my father in laws is June 1st so we are just lumping them all together like we usually do. Then we are taking my sister and law and the nephews to see “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” at my work so that should be fun.

So now I think we’re all caught up and the adventure continues!