I went to Utah Valley Hospital in May more than I would ever want to. Like I said in the Mother's Day post, my mom had her first biopsy on Friday, May 8. We were feeling hopeful. The biopsy came back inconclusive. The sample didn't have enough tissue. When I researched biopsies, it said it was very hard to get a good biopsy with a needle and aspirating the tissue. The way they did it was to put my mom in a light sedation and insert a camera down through her mouth to the pancreas. Once they were in the right place, the needle entered from the outside of her abdomen and into the mass. So you can understand why it would be difficult.
My mom had a trip to Texas planned right after Mother's Day. Ashlyn's mission farewell was the next weekend, and my parents planned to go with Betsy. Nothing was going to stop them from going. We still didn't have answers, but it was almost better that way, so they could just enjoy the trip.
We hadn't noticed at first, but in the results from the CT scan, two nodules in her abdomen were suspicious for cancer, and it would be assumed that they had spread from the pancreas. That was devastating because even without knowing the results of the biopsy, it was clear that it wasn't just a small autoimmune problem.
We met with the oncologist the day before my parents flew to Texas. Since the biopsy was inconclusive, the doctor could not give an official diagnosis. He just spoke in hypotheticals. He left a sliver of hope in all he said, so we didn't leave the office feeling sad. He ordered a CA 19-9 blood test and genetic testing. He said it was important to do the genetic testing since my grandpa, my aunt, and my mom's cousin all passed away from pancreatic cancer.
The day after my parents returned from Texas, my mom had a second biopsy. This time, the pathologist came to the biopsy so he could make a diagnosis right there on the spot and ensure the biopsy sample was sufficient to be conclusive. They brought my mom back to her same-day room, where Ali and I were sitting and waiting. She slowly woke up and felt sad. We felt sad with her. I will never forget the moment Dr. Kawa came into the room and told her it was for sure Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma. My mom put her head in her hands and sobbed and cried. We cried too. We held her hands and cried. It was so hard!
The next step was to do another biopsy, this time of the suspicious nodules in the abdomen. This would tell us if it had definitely spread. It would be bad news because that would put her at stage IV, but at least we would have answers. The next step was to place a stent in the common bile duct. This would prevent jaundice, and the mass continued to grow.
With everything evolving and getting more complicated, Katie decided she could come take care of my mom and dad for the summer. She arrived in time for the nodule biopsy on Thursday, May 28th, and the stent on Friday, May 29. Katie coming to help is such a huge blessing and relief.
My mom is such a trooper and got through the biopsy and stent placement, and IV placements that went along with each procedure. She has tricky veins for blood draws and IVs, so she was like a pin cushion.
There was a pathologist there with the biopsy of the nodule. We didn't get the results that day, but we did pretty soon after. It was bad news yet again. It was confirmed that the cancer had spread. The outcome for metastatic stage 4 pancreatic cancer is pretty grim. Once it has spread, surgery is no longer an option, and chemo doesn't have much success.
