Surgery Tomorrow

First I want to give a shout out to some people who spent the past weekend participating in events in David's honor.  Sister Mary participated in the Route 66 half marathon in Illinois.  This was Mary's first half marathon & she rocked it!  She logged every training mile & completed the race with her big brother on her mind & in her heart!  High school friends Bill Pollom (who is fighting his own battle against cancer), Dave Bolin, Steve Mather, & Cliff Staton ran the Louisville half marathon wearing bright purple shirts with "Team Hager" written on them.  A reminder to us that we were blessed to grow up in West Lafayette, Indiana where high school friendships can endure the test of time & distance.  Local friend, Craig Ohman, participated in a 52 mile bike race with 2800 feet of elevation changes to help raise money for pancreatic cancer research.  You guys are our road warriors & we so appreciate your efforts in David's honor.  Can we buy you a massage or something?

Tomorrow is surgery day.  This is the day we have been focusing on since David was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in June.  The chemotherapy & chemoradiation that David has received to this point have all been done in anticipation that surgery would be an option, as surgery is our only hope for a cure & if not a cure, our best hope for some long term survival with a better quality of life.  While we are so ready to take this step, we are also a bit anxious.  It is a big surgery with a fair number of potential complications, but David has handled the other treatments so well that we are hopeful his body will handle the surgical intervention well.  Dr. Lowy (oncologic surgeon) will first do a laparoscopic procedure to ensure that there are no signs of metastases in David's abdomen (apparently the abdominal CT study can miss up to 10% of metastases).  As long as there are no signs of metastases, Dr. Lowy will remove the body & tail of David's pancreas along with his spleen.  Then Dr. Hemming (vascular surgeon) will do the vascular reconstruction portion of the surgery.  One of the arteries that passes near the pancreas (the celiac) is encased by the tumor.  So, a portion of the celiac artery will need to be removed & if need be, replaced with an arterial graft.  They are anticipating that the surgery will take approximately 6 hours, but may take up to 9 hours.  Then David will be in the ICU for 24 to 48 hours followed by another week to two weeks in the hospital.  David's brother, Nelson (MD), sister-in-law, Sharree (RN), & youngest brother, Carl, all arrived in town yesterday.  So, we have great support on board.  Several of David's swim buddies will be carrying food into us each day, so the support crew will be well fed!  Our blessings are many!!

Pancreatic Cancer:  We know it, we've been fighting it, now let's END IT!!!!!  With great appreciation for the many things that all of you have done for us & with great hope for my David, Janet