surgery and we have spoken with Dr. McDonald. The procedure didn't give him any
definitive answers. The mass does not present as a typical cancerous mass, but
there was one area on the bottom of the pancreas that couldn't be adequately
viewed with the scope. He did take several samples to be biopsied and those
results will be back by Friday. The various tubes that lead from the pancreas
were not swollen and inflamed as he would have expected in a typical cancerous
presentation, and because of this, he was not able to get a stint in, so the
jaundice and itching will not be relieved as of yet. But because they are not
inflamed, this leads him to think it could be something else altogether--things
just aren't adding up to put the puzzle pieces together as he would have
expected. He has prescribed a stronger medication that may help with the
itching. He did not want to give false hope that this won't ultimately be
diagnosed as cancer, but more testing will be needed to find out for sure. There
is a PET scan scheduled for Friday at 8:00 am and those results along with the
biopsy results will let them know if there is cancer in the pancreas. If these
additional tests prove negative, then more labs and possibly a liver biopsy will
most likely be necessary. There is obviously something going on because there is
definitely a mass there, it's just not typical. It could even turn out to be
something as simple as an autoimmune inflammation of the pancreas which has a
really long name that I can't remember and certainly couldn't spell. This is
fairly rare, but Dr. McDonald said he does see it. This would truly be a
miracle, because it is treated with steroids and then would clear up the
blockage in the bile duct area and the jaundice would clear up as well. So this
is still a waiting game with more tests, but perhaps a bit more hope, too. Dr.
McDonald is going to try to get the radiologist to speed up the preliminary
results of the PET scan so he can go over everything they find with Ken and
Kathy on Monday. We'll know much more by Monday evening. So spend your weekend
praying for miracles. Love, SuSu
SuSu Rosenthal