Cancer
I have yet to write about it here, but it is not a secret. December 2023, I was diagnosed with Stage IV Pancreatic cancer. Those who are close enough to follow me on Facebook know the whole story, so I won't repeat it here. I just want to acknowledge the issue.
Treatment
I've been treated since January 2024. I've undergone two different rounds of chemotherapy. The first, Abraxane / Gemzar cost me my hair, but ultimately was not sufficiently effective. Next was a Folfirinox regimen and remained through 18 treatments. While my oncologist decided the treatment was doing me more harm than good, each treatment has changed the landscape of my disease. I do not consider any of the effort wasted. The upside is, my hair grew back.
From July 2025-January 2026, I participated in a Phase I clinical trial for a type of immunotherapy. The sponsor ultimately cancelled the trial because it wasn't sufficiently effective.
Because of my otherwise good health and the relative stability of my main lesion, my doctors recommended this spring to treat my liver metastasises with Y90. Since the liver mets were where the action was, it seemed like a good course of action while I waited for another clinical trial.
The Y90 treatments were successful and appear to have eliminated the visible tumors on my liver. Unfortunately, this left a large amount of necrotic material around my liver.
Inactivity
I apologize for my recent inactivity. The area surrounding my liver became subject to a massive bacterial infection. Since mid-July, I had been subject to increased fatigue, pain and declining appetite which ultimately landed me in the hospital for eight days late in August.
More Treatment
As with many advanced cancer patients, my issues were complex. Not only did I have a severe infection, turns out I had several gallstones and a large quantity of "gunk" blocking my common duct causing jaundice. Everyone was very surprised to discover the gallstones, since I had my gallbladder removed over 27 years ago.
With the gallstones and gunk removed, and a drain on the large abscess near my liver, my improvement was immediately apparent on the labs the next day.
Home
I've been home since early September, but progress has been slow. I'm using extremely strong IV antibiotics three times a day. my abdominal pain has gradually subsided. I'm eager to get back do working on projects and recently planned some for this fall.
Obviously, I haven't been able to dig the hole for the tower, When I started that, I never thought it would take six months to dig down four feet. It may take a while yet.
I feel very lucky as a pancreatic cancer patient. Most are not diagnosed until their cancer has reached a very advanced stage. They end up with very little time. Mine was caught a bit earlier, and for that I'm fortunate.
Focus
Even without a lot of formal medical treatment for the last year and a half, I've been focused on my health. A key provision is keeping weight on. Although I weighed about 230 lbs in much of my adult life, I'm currently around 155 lbs -- having lost about 10 lbs during my last hospital stay. I'm working hard to get back to 165 lbs. Good nutrition is the key -- I don't eat junk. There's little added sugar, refined flour, or processed foods in my diet. This is what kills us. Lots of protein, fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds. Carefully choosing what you eat is probably the best medicine.
I'm also exercising. My other hobby teaching martial arts. I'm 5th Dan in Taekwondo, and I enjoy teaching at a local studio. I haven't been there in nearly three months now. I miss it greatly. Two weeks out of the hospital, and I'm finally strong enough to make some kicks. Once I'm off these IV antibiotics, I should be able to return.
Meditation and prayer are a part of my health focus. It's not just me praying -- I have a whole host of folks from a lot of different religious traditions. I seriously believe the appeals to the divine work. We're all connected to our Creator and each other in this way. I'm very thankful for those who pray for me.
