Wanted...dead or alive! ;)

It's nice to be wanted....
And MD Anderson wanted me! Once they received my records, after my brilliant, beautiful, blonde BFF Tami O'Daniel, NP Extraordinaire contacted them from my hospital room in Louisville, they were "offering" me an appointment to come to Houston.

Please don't take this the wrong way! I know I am blessed beyond measure to have the contacts in the medical community that I have and that I know how to navigate this mammoth medical system that we are fortunate to have in the US.

There was one small problem. Through my contacts, I was able to secure appointments with 2 highly skilled surgeons who were willing and able to perform my "Whipple Procedure" on Monday, February 18th. MD Anderson offered me an appointment on Feb. 25th! An entire week after I would have the cancer out of me IF I chose UofL or Vanderbilt. Which, both of my surgeons trained at MD Anderson. So, I knew I was in excellent hands closer to home. After the said appointment, they wanted an additional 3-5 days of outpatient appointments to determine the best course of treatment for me. I didn't feel I had the luxury of spending additional precious time waiting for more tests to confirm what I and my well respected physicians knew. I had pancreatic cancer and I knew that in the stage it was in, with the little bit of research I had done, surgery was first on the docket for me! I didn't have time to waste!

So...Off to Nashville with my baby sister on Sunday the 17th and one last meal of McDonalds! Yep...that was my last meal...after 4,000 calories of Graeter's Ice Cream over the weekend!

Next up, my week at VUMC...it's not the Ritz, but the staff were INCREDIBLE!!!

It wasn't a spray tan, it was jaundice!

Friday, 2/8/13 ended like any other week in my normal life. I had worked in Tennessee, seeing some of my favorite accounts and even met up with my favorite college Professor. I went to my Allergist in the morning and told him I was still having GI issues and suggested I get a CT scan of my abdomen. I told him I had an appointment with my GI on the 21st. I also saw the NP at my Endocrinologists office. Apparently the only person who noticed I was jaundiced was Jamie Alvey, who was doing a hair treatment for me that evening. She commented, "Your tan looks great!" Only one problem...I hadn't had a spray tan in over 18 months!
I reluctantly went to the ER at Baptist East, only to find out I had a bilirubin level of 8.6, AST & ALT through the roof, jaundiced and very sick. After they did a CT scan of my abdomen, Dr. Purvis came into my room in the ER and with every bit of compassion he had informed me, "there is a mass on your pancreas and it looks to be cancer." So began my journey. On 2/9/13, on the second anniversary of my Mother's death, I learned I probably had pancreatic cancer.
I was admitted and had an ERCP performed by Dr. Mitch Kaplan, who is an amazing Gastro, along with my personal Gastro, Dr. Laszlo Makk...love that man, as do all of his patients!! They put in a stent to relieve my liver and took some brushings from the bile duct. On that day, they also ran a blood test for a tumor marker, CA19-9, that came back at 270...anything greater than 35 is indicative of a possible pancreatic carcinoma.
I was released from the hospital on Monday with appointments set for an Oncology Surgeon and Oncologist in Louisville. No offense to the fabulous medical community in our great city, but I have pancreatic cancer and I'm only 49. I was on a quest to find the best center in the country to fight this battle AND WIN!!
On Thursday I met with Dr. Charles Scoggins who is FANTASTIC!! However, I had a contact at Vanderbilt, Dr. Jordan Berlin, Clinical Director of GI Oncology, who made arrangements for me to meet with him and Dr. Alexander Parikh on Friday in Nashville.
What a tough decision it was! I'm blessed beyond measure that I had 2 phenomenal surgeons to choose from! As difficult as it was, I chose Vanderbilt. There's no doubt that Louisville has many great physicians and are the best in many areas. In this case, Vanderbilt wins out in the specialty of Pancreatic Cancer. Dr. Berlin is one of the best Oncologists in this area and I am fortunate to have him as my Oncologist.
I'm scheduled for a Whipple procedure on Monday at Vanderbilt and will be there for approximately a week. My family and friends have rallied and I will have someone at my house to take care of my dogs, my Dad and son are being watched over while I am having surgery and my sister and friends are at my side.
I'm putting my O2 mask on first!