We are 1 week into the first chemo treatment, the next one is 10/8 (next thursday). The first round of chemo was ok...caused a few issues here and there but not horrible yet. The bigger problem is that Tammy's GI system still is struggling after surgery, causing difficulties eating, alot of discomfort and continued lost weight. She has good days and bad days still. Looks like Catherine is going to take a leave of absence from her school in West Palm and stay with us for a wh

Chemo is about 6 hours of in-hospital infusions and a take home pump with 46 hours of additional at home infusion. Then repeat every 2 weeks. We are at home and Tammy is doing well so far. Apparently the IV drugs they give her for nausea and things are very good so you typically get worse after a couple days...so we will see. Tammy currently eating dinner of chicken, mashed potatoes and ensure. More later as we figure out how this will go.

Had the second second opinion from Sloan Kettering today. Same story - they agree with the plan at UF and don't think that radiation therapy is valuable. This cancer is rare and there isn't any direct research on it -- so they generally follow the protocols for pancreatic cancer. Not alot of treatment options here, but at least we can do it from home where we have LOTS of support. We also had chemo training today (chemo starts next thursday) -- 2 hours of discussion of possib

The under-skin chemo port was surgically implanted today in a small procedure this morning. It was relatively quick surgery and we were home by 11am or so. All went well, but the whole process was kind of sad as it made the 6 months of chemo seem much more real now. Chemo is scheduled to start on 9/24, the next stage on our "journey". Tammy is at home and resting comfortably.

We received our first 2nd opinion today from Harvard Dana Farber (reviewed tests and sent us a pdf). It basically agreed with the current UF plan to do 6 months of chemo. Second 2nd opinion with Sloan Kettering is a zoom call on Thursday. Tammy is getting a port for chemo on Monday (small surgical procedure). Tammy is continuing to struggle with eating, but the surgeon says this is normal and will likely last another 3 or so weeks until the stomach and bowels can start digest