Fighting Pancreatic Cancer
My father, Charles, has been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer which has already spread to his liver. First step would usually be surgery but it isn't an option for him. They plan to do radiation, but only as a pain management. For radiation they place 3 tic tac size gold pieces (called fiducial markers) in his pancreas (through the mouth) that they will hit with the radiation. After many delays they finally started chemotherapy on December 18th, he received his second dose of chemotherapy December 26th, his third dose is scheduled for January 10th. It's taken a lot to get where we are now and my dad has been through such pain and suffering. He started going to his primary doctor and visiting emergency rooms over 6 months ago to get answers for all the stomach issues he has been having, only to be given no answers. Finally, in November his CT scan revealed the cancer. He was transferred from St. Mary's Hospital to Georgetown Hospital to get a biopsy of the tumor in hopes to start a clinical trial, but after waiting for 2 weeks found out they didn't take a big enough biopsy. He began going back and fourth to St. Mary's and Georgetown Hospitals getting his blood drawn over and over again, hospitals making mistakes. St. Mary's Hospital told my dad he had an infection in his blood and had to put off chemotherapy until he was done with his antibiotics, only to find out they had contaminated his bloodwork and there was never any infection. He went to Georgetown Hospital to get his port placed, instead he was admitted to the hospital because his blood counts were off and they thought he had internal bleeding, only to find the cancer had grown. Finally, after several days of trying to manage his pain they tell him, "I think a 5 (on a scale of 1 to 10) is they best we can get you to." They started his first dose of chemotherapy while he was admitted, he seemed to take it like a champ and he was released the following day. The next week turned into another unorganized (thanks to the hospital) mess. Chemotherapy was on Wednesday (which was a day in itself). Without having his port placed yet they had to give the chemo through an IV. The IV held up fine during his prechemo meds (nausea and steroids) but gave out as soon as they started the chemo. Once they placed a new IV his first chemo med (paclitaxel) went in fine but the second one (gemcitabine) started to burn so they had to pause, mix it with saline and start again. Finally got through the rest with no more problems. Thursday was supposed to be the 2nd try for the port AND his tic tac placement for his radiation but with lack of communication between departments only his port was placed that day, we had to come back Friday for the tic tacs. Both procedures were successful. I made lots of phone calls to get the chemotherapy and radiation scheduled. Finally thought there was a plan set in place, only to have it change again. He needs to have another CT scan to move forward with radiation and we plan to meet with his oncologist to get more answers on if the clinical trial is happening. He tried to go to work after the new year only to be put on unpaid medical leave. So I write this long story of the hell my dad has been through to ask please, please help him through this trying time. He needs to be able to pay for his medical insurance to continue treatment, he needs to continue to pay other bills as well and with no income it is not an easy task. I want to help take away this burden for him, I don't want him to worry about what medication is covered and what is not.