Cancer is Rearing its Ugly Head Again

In Sep 2009 my dad was at the beginning stages of being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

By Oct 2009 that diagnosis was determined to be stage 4.

He began chemo and an MRI in Jan 2010 revealed that the pancreatic head mass was essentially not visible.

By Thanksgiving of 2010 my dad was declared in remission; we enjoyed sharing a wonderfully thankful Thanksgiving holiday with him and his wife.

By the title of this post it's obvious the cancer is back.

He's been off chemo but has continued to have follow-up blood work over the past year.

Over the past few months the CA19 (cancer marker) number has been increasing. Once it went over 100 (I think normal is around 37) his doctor had my dad start chemo again.

A few months ago he had a scan to check the pancreas and it was still showing as being clear from any mass.

The CA19 continued to rise. The doctor felt like the chemo wasn't effective anymore and had him stop.

Another follow-up appt for a scan showed lesions on the liver. A biopsy was scheduled.

The results from the biopsy confirm that this is pancreatic cancer metastasized in the liver.

He'll be starting another type of chemo; one that was used in the 50s ... but if it's not showing any good progress he might start on a trial.

Today my dad walked in his 3rd Purple Stride Walk for Pancreatic Cancer. That's a miracle in itself considering his stage 4 diagnosis 2 years ago.

I'm once again asking for prayers for my dad ... prayers that he can beat this cancer yet again and walk in many more Purple Stride walks.

Cancer sucks.