This morning we met with Dr. Charles J. Yeo, an oncology surgeon at Jefferson Hospital, to get a second opinion and discuss options. Dr. Yeo is widely regarded as one of the best oncology surgeons in the world, specifically in the “Whipple procedure”, which is the procedure Mom would need.
The meeting was via telehealth, which is like a Zoom call through Mom’s patient portal. Myself, both of my sisters, and my dad joined my Mom on the call from one of the empty bedrooms at my parent’s house.
Dr. Yeo was great. Very precise, very specific, very concrete and realistic statements. He sounded like I think you’d want a surgeon to sound. He agreed that the current chemo plan at Penn was the right course to follow, that it was exactly what he would want done at Jefferson Hospital, using the same drugs. So that felt good: in a span of 24 hours, we’ve had two of the best pancreatic docs on the planet state that course of action we are about to undertake with Mom is the best course of action.
He also stated that Mom might not make it to surgery. He felt that due to Mom’s age, and especially due to the unfortunate placement of the mass (the growth, the tumor, the thing, whatever), not only did chemo have to be done first, but it had to work.
And there was a good chance that it might not work.
So, the game board is set. The stakes are high; they are everything.
Dr. Yeo told Mom what he has told thousands of patients: this is the moment for you (Mom) to being your Olympic Training. Be active, eat right, exercise, stay away from the bad things. Get moving. And, just like an Olympian, you may train your hardest and at the competition you may deliver your all-time personal best… and that might not be enough. In fact, you still may “lose terribly” (his words).
So mom will begin her first 4 rounds of chemo next week, and after that they will see how well it is working. If the tumor shrinks, great. If the tumor stays the same size, OK. If the tumor still grows, we’ll have run out of options.
Assuming the tumor shrinks or stays the same size after the first 4 rounds of chemo, then Mom will start a second set of 4 rounds of chemo. When those are complete, another set of scans will be run, and Mom will meet with Dr. Yeo again to see if surgery makes sense.
Mom is tough. She had the strength to hear all of this, and still drop a joke or two that made the whole room laugh.
This is a tough city, and our family has been here for many generations, and it is a tough, hard-working family.
Plus, we have Rocky.
Nobody is backing down. We are ready to start training.
LFG!