Well, Dad had surgery on Monday and they found that the tumor had invaded a major blood vessel and that it’s possible that the cancer has spread beyond the main tumor site to other parts of the pancreas. Since the tumor had invaded blood vessels, they couldn’t safely remove it without risking him bleeding out on the table, so they just closed him back up again. They’ll have the biopsy results back later this week to see whether it’s spread to other parts of the pancreas. Obviously, this isn’t good news.
He’s recovering from the surgery now and the next steps will depend somewhat on what they find with the biopsies. There may be some chemotherapy and radiation options that could reduce the size of the tumor to give him more time and possibly shrink it enough to make it operable.
So, we’ll see what the biopsy results say and what’s next. I’m glad he made it through the surgery ok, but bummed that they couldn’t remove it and still sad that I can’t be closer to home while this is going on.
In happier news, my HHE comes tomorrow. Yay for finally being able to sleep in my own bed! Woot! I’m sure that the Diplocat will also enjoy investigating the boxes. 🙂
