My Story is about Me

 

This event took place from 11 April 2019 to now.

 

The Discovery

My cancer was discovered during an early screening program via endoscopic ultrasound in April of 2019.

 

This is My Story

In 1998, I watched helplessly as my mother was shuffled from specialist to specialist, and from one hospital to another over a 5 week period just to get a diagnosis. Within 6 months she was gone. Had it not been for early screening, that might have been my story. I always had an inner voice that told me it was a matter of “when” and not “if”, but I never pictured hope as part of the equation. Because of early detection, I now have HOPE!

 

The Impact of Time

Early detection didn’t just play a role in my story, it IS my story. My mother had died of pancreatic cancer in 1998 and my maternal grandfather in 1974. I also believe there were others in my family tree based on vague death certificates discovered on ancestry.com. Every year at my annual physical, my PCP would go over my family history and the response was always the same. “Unfortunately there are no tests for early detection when it comes to PC.” It was through self advocacy that I happened upon the CAPS5 study through John Hopkins University and I signed up immediately. I had 2 yearly screenings with no findings. On the third year a 1cm mass was found on the tail of my pancreas. I had no symptoms. Within 2 weeks, I had a distal pancreatectomy/splenectomy followed by adjuvant chemo and radiation. I was staged at 1a with no lymph node involvement. I am currently NED.