Last week Friday around 14.30 I heard from my 'stomach, intestine and liver'-doctor that they saw a tumor on a CT-scan. It was Duodenal Cancer and that is bad news and located in a difficult to remove area. I was at that doctor after vomiting started during holiday in april/may of this year. And I was never a vomiter. But then I vomited almost every morning. So my local doctor thought food poisoning (I was on a Carnival Cruise in the caribbean and a week in Orlando). So first tests were minor (blood, echo of the belly). And all he could come up with was: I see 2 stones in your gallbladder, so let's remove that. I thought he went to quick (the gallbladder has a function, so to just get it out was a bit too much). And I found he was looking too specific and not broad enough. So I requested a specialist. The specialist first did a research with a camera through my mouth (not a pleasant thing). But with it they could not see anything as there was still too much food present. Food did not go 'down the drain' as it did in the past. Then a CT scan of the lower belly. And there they saw the tumor.
Well, when you hear that on Friday and your next appointment with an oncologist is on Monday, one has the whole weekend to go onto Google and search for the most depressing stories online with pages about this cancer and life expectancies of 3 to 6 months. It was quite an emotional weekend and many handkerchiefs were filled with tears.
Then Monday to the oncologist. There I got more the view of where the duodenal cancer tumor is located: at the end of the duodenum near the jejunum. And it was basically blocking passage of what comes out of the stomach. Hence my experience with vomiting and slow food travelling from mouth to toilet. (Excuse my English, as dutch is my first language).
The oncologist said that on the current CT scan he did not see any metastases. So none in the liver. He also explained that not seeing them on a scan does not mean they are not there, but they are not seen. And he wanted to do another CT scan of the upper body including the lungs. 2 days later (so last wednesday) I did that scan and the same day I heard: no metastases in the lungs.
Plus the doctor said he things he can operate and remove. Of course with the comment: we know for sure once we operate if we can remove it. I saw on this forum already somebody saying something similar. And he then went into chemo, made it smaller and then was operable. (Which was good to read, as I read elsewhere that this cancer is difficult to conquer with chemo). Blood tests I did were all okay (well, my CK value was a little bit too high but not to worry, the rest was all in the desired range). So the operation is planned 4 weeks after my first meeting (now 3,5 weeks). I am in a diet and exercise program, so to create some muscles (I am an obese guy of 53 whose exercise lately was walking to and from the car). Luckilly I did okay with the intake of the exercise and my muscles can put, push and pull good weights. So my endurance needs to be improved. Well I have 3 weeks for that before the operation. The idea they have here is that when I go into the operation as fit as possible, I have a better recovery. And it helps me to do and think of other things and feel generally a bit better and more positive. When the dr said he thinks he can operate my mood went already much better due to hope. So the least I can do is optimize these weeks to go into the operation as fit as possible.
And that is the current status. Still 3,5 weeks untill I have the operation. I just hope during the operation they get the confirmation that they can remove the tumor and see no metastases. Then the operation will also include cutting parts of the organs in that area (pancreas, deodunum, stomach maybe) and basically reroute the route my food goes from mouth to toilet). Not a Whipple operation I am told, but I feel it is a bit simillar. The operation might take 5 to 6 hours. Then I am supposed to go to intensive care. Stay in the hospital for about 10 days (when there are no complications) and then revalidate home for about 3 months. And that is when everything goes well. And that is my focus at the moment.
I wrote my experiences in case somebody gets in a similar situation and can relate to my last week and hope it helps to put things in perspective.
