Penny & Irv - May 2010

Dear All;

Not much to say. Dr. Kornfeld thought Irv was still too jaundiced (yellow tinged eyes, skin) since it has been a week since the ERCP procedure. He had blood drawn to check his liver enzymes. Irv is still itching badly from the excess bilirubin. Irv got a prescription for another medicine to try for sleep. Ambien didn't work at all.

Also, it was hoped Irv would feel more energetic, but he isn't doing that either! AND, he has now lost 37 lbs. in less than 2 months.

All this adds up to continued concern that he has a pancreatic cancer. One encouraging note is that the cancer would be fairly small since it has been so hard to find/see with all these tests, even though it is obstructing his bile ducts. Surgical resection would be a definite possibility if that is the case. (He mentioned a 75% cure rate - a number I find very hard to believe.) Dr. Kornfeld said he has great confidence that the doctors at OHSU in Portland and the endoscopic ultrasound will be able to visualize the problem. (Then he said that the next step would be open up Irv's abdomen in a regular surgical procedure. What's up with that?) Pancreatic cancer is extremely difficult to diagnosis due to the location in the body. Plus, usually, when a mass forms it is a position that it doesn't cause the problems Irv is having, so by the time the cancer is discovered it has already metastasized to other parts of the body. So, the fact that Irv is having all this crap could be a good thing!

It is amazing to see the calendar and see that we have nothing planned until the 20th for my surgery! Then to Portland on the 24th for Irv's procedure at 0700 on the 25th. (Dr. Kornfled thought I'd be feeling good enough to go! All right, because I'm going.)

Love to you all and thanks again for your wonderful support! It really does mean everything to us. Dr. Kornfeld even commented that Irv and I didn't seem "wigged out" enough for all the shit that is happening to us. We just said that we had a lot of knowledge anyway, we'd do whatever was necessary when we ever got answers, and we had half the population supporting us. So, why get all upset about something until you HAVE to do so? (It helps a lot that we love each other to distraction and will do anything we need to do for the other person. That makes everything bearable.)

Penny