In Jim’s case, his spleen was also removed.įollowing the January 2018 operation, Jim learned his tumor’s classification was anaplastic pancreatic cancer. The operation to remove the tumor, a Whipple procedure, or pancreaticoduodenectomy, involves removing the head of the pancreas, the duodenum, the gall bladder and bile duct, and then reconfiguring the upper digestive system. “That was never fully determined until I had the surgery and the whole tumor came out.”
“Was it pancreatic, was it GI, was it something for which there would be targeted therapies?” Jim says.
It made sense, says Jim, since Mayo Clinic Laboratories had already evaluated biopsy samples of his tumor cells that had been submitted by his medical team in Omaha.Īlthough the tumor was obviously malignant, what wasn’t clear was its point of origin. So, with Melanie’s encouragement, Jim requested an appointment for a second opinion at Mayo Clinic. However, his wife Melanie was not willing to accept that fate. Jim recognized if his time had truly come, he did not want to drag out the inevitable. He was offered chemotherapy to extend his life and was advised to begin making final arrangements. At the time, his local care team informed Jim that the cancer’s advanced stage and infiltration beyond his pancreas into his spine, lungs, and spleen excluded surgery as a treatment.
Jim was thrust into a world of unknowns in the fall of 2017 when he was diagnosed with what was thought to be metastatic pancreatic cancer.
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