For some reason I felt like I wanted to blog right now. Maybe because when I sit down and think about these last couple of months it's a little hazy, pretty confusing, and very overwhelming.
4/25, Wednesday- wait.
4/26, Thursday- Mom and I leave ET. Dad had first appointment with oncologist.
4/27, Friday- Dad has 2nd appointment with oncologist, bloodwork done. Referral to MD Anderson sent. Mom and I arrive home that night.
5/2, Wednesday- MDA calls to offer my dad a consultation appointment
5/5, Saturday- My parents fly to Houston.
5/7- 5/11, week of endless appointments, bloodwork, endoscopy, spot opens and they extend an offer for surgery ON MONDAY
5/12, Saturday- I fly to Houston
5/13, Sunday- Mother's Day in Houston, dad on surgery fast
5/14, Monday- longest day of our lives: 9.5 hour 'Whipple' surgery
Life has been quite a whirlwind lately.
My mom and I were in Ethiopia. Life was good. We were just getting settled in. We visited some amazing organizations, met the boy who holds such a special place in our hearts, walked the halls of the Mother Teresa clinic which was truly life changing for me, and had many more plans and days ahead of us.
We were experiencing things in a part of the world that is life changing.... but then there was a call. A call that no person should ever have to make or get- a call that truly changed our lives, unlike anything in the third world country.
Cancer. Just the word itself is like a big punch in the stomach. I still have to take a breath and force that word off my tongue. The doctor called my dad and told him he had cancer. Alone in his office he got the call. Tim in Canada. My mom and I in Ethiopia. Two words- living nightmare. Full of fear, we packed our bags and took the next flight out, which was two days later. We arrived home to face the monster.
Upon arriving home, things moved at tornado speed.
4/24, Tuesday- Pathology came back, not gallstones, doctor says it's pancreatic cancer.
4/25, Wednesday- wait.
4/26, Thursday- Mom and I leave ET. Dad had first appointment with oncologist.
4/27, Friday- Dad has 2nd appointment with oncologist, bloodwork done. Referral to MD Anderson sent. Mom and I arrive home that night.
5/2, Wednesday- MDA calls to offer my dad a consultation appointment
5/5, Saturday- My parents fly to Houston.
5/7- 5/11, week of endless appointments, bloodwork, endoscopy, spot opens and they extend an offer for surgery ON MONDAY
5/12, Saturday- I fly to Houston
5/13, Sunday- Mother's Day in Houston, dad on surgery fast
5/14, Monday- longest day of our lives: 9.5 hour 'Whipple' surgery
The cancer was not pancreatic cancer, but bile duct cancer. The tumor was located within the bile duct and in 2 of the 22 lymph nodes that were resected during the surgery. CLEAR margins were obtained in the surgery, which indicates all of the cancer was removed. Now he'll rest, then start chemo and (maybe) radiation.
