An Unexpected Adventure

Writing a blog is something I never thought I’d do. Especially for a reason like this.

This week, I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I had a port placed today to start chemo next week. Because I am sore and tired, I asked Kirk to write a short history about what has been happening.

This is Kirk. In case you haven’t heard, Sandi has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. We will use this blog to explain the history of all this, and also to update people all at once.

Sandi has been borderline type 2 diabetic for years. Her A1C hovered around 6. She went on a keto/paleo diet to try to lose the baby weight and kick the type 2 diabetes once and for all. She lost 25 pounds and was feeling good, and looking fantastic! (Sandi: Thank you honey :)

Then, in August, she got back an A1C of 11.5. Which means her blood sugar was running 300+ (normal is 90-140). This change had no good explanation considering the weight she had lost and that she had virtually eliminated carbs from her diet. Logically her A1C should have gone down, not through the roof.

Sandi got a continuous blood sugar monitor and found that her blood sugar was running in upper 200’s most of the time, and didn’t really respond reasonably to anything she ate, or didn’t eat. She also noticed a dull ache just below her ribs, and found a weird lump there. Sandi went to the doctor as soon as possible (about a week later).

The doctor felt the lump on Sandi’s abdomen and ordered an ultrasound. This ultrasound showed a mass on her pancreas, and the doctor then immediately ordered a CT scan. When the CT was done, Sandi went to a pancreas specialist (surgeon) to talk about it, and he indicated it very likely was pancreatic cancer; and unfortunately, that it was not currently operable.

A week later (10/16), Sandi got a biopsy. The pathology results were back the next day and confirmed that she has an adenocarcinoma on her pancreas. It has has grown large enough to reach the duodenum and has also become entangled with a bunch of blood vessels. It is because of the blood vessel involvement that it is not currently operable.

The plan is to try to shrink the tumor using chemotherapy, hopefully enough that it can be operable. Yesterday (10/21), we met with an oncologist to plan the next steps. Today (10/22) Sandi had surgery to place an infusion port. She will need another CT scan before beginning chemo, which is scheduled to begin 10/30. The 4-5 hour chemo treatment is repeated every two weeks. There will be 4 treatments, and then another CT will be done to determine if the mass is reducing.

We are researching treatments, looking for any additional tools we can use to fight this cancer.

Pancreas cancer is one of the most difficult cancers to beat. It can be beaten though. Please pray for Sandi, for healing and that she can tolerate the chemo side effects, and for me (Kirk) and the kids as we go through this journey together. Pray that we all will remain strong in faith and give God the room to do whatever he has in mind. We will be taking each day one at a time. You should too.

(Sandi) I have a request: I have read my Bible daily using the NetBible “daily reading” for several years. It would mean a lot to me if my “support team” was reading along with me on the same daily schedule. As I have told everyone this news, I just feel like I’m going around making people sad. I want to know that my support team has the same comforter that I do :).

You go to www.netbible.org, and clicking on the “daily” button. Since there is only one schedule, everyone would be reading the same section on the same day with me. If you want it to read to you out loud (I like this option if I’m tired), click on the speaker ikon. (I also love the “Constable’s Notes)

I feel like I have an army standing with me :). Please continue to pray for strength and wisdom, because I am determined to fight.

(Kirk) We will try to keep this blog updated so it can be a central place where people can learn what’s up with Sandi. This will offload us from having to update a whole lot of people individually. You can share the blog address with others who you believe need to know, or who would pray. Make sure you remind them that they should keep up on the bible reading with the rest of us.

-Kirk and Sandi