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Jami's Progress


57Gregy

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My friend Jami loves music.
Last week we all went out to eat on her 49th birthday. She and her mother (my room mate) ordered the same thing. The next day, they both felt ill and thought it might be from the food. No one else was sick.
My room mate got better after a few days but Jami did not. She then went to the hospital, and they performed scans of her belly and discovered a blocked bile duct and a 'spot' on her pancreas.
After surgery to place a stent in her duct and do a biopsy of the pancreas, they found that it is pancreatic cancer. But. they found it very early and she has a good chance of a full recovery after more surgery in the next few weeks.
So, getting food poisoning may have saved her life, and she can keep listening to music.

Update: While the doctor's are saying that they're happy the cancer was caught early, they have since discovered that it is a very aggressive form of cancer. One doctor called it the "Mike Tyson of cancers", very tough and hard to beat.
She will have to undergo radiation, chemotherapy and surgery.
I've known her since she was 11; she's like a niece to me. Trying to remain positive, despite my Uncle Hawk dying from the same disease.

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Sending positive thoughts both your and her way!

Just so you know, my Mom is currently 91, but 22 years ago she had ovarian cancer that wasn't caught early (due to some very inept doctors!).  They ended up removing a 5.2 pound tumor the size of a watermelon and performing a hysterotomy.  There was a less than 1% chance of survival but, as the age I posted above proves, she made the intention to beat the odds and did!  She was only one of two people to survive that condition that year.  So, it may be the "Mike Tyson of cancers," but that doesn't mean you can't be the Buster Douglas of survivors! ?

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I was given a 16% chance of surviving tonsil cancer in 2003. I went through radical chemo, radiation, and surgery. Major gains have been made in research and treatments in cancers since then . Her prognosis surviving looks good so stay positive and a smile on your face . Especially when you see her.  Today  I Am alive and well pestering Bapu almost daily. Good times 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I’m so sorry to hear about your friend. Stay positive for your own and your friends’ benefit.

I can’t help but think about how this beastly disease is touching my family right now but that’s for another thread as I don’t want to trample over your sadness with mine.

My hopes, prayers and best wishes go out to you and your friend. Take care.

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On 10/12/2020 at 4:39 AM, Michael Vogel said:

I’m so sorry to hear about your friend. Stay positive for your own and your friends’ benefit.

I can’t help but think about how this beastly disease is touching my family right now but that’s for another thread as I don’t want to trample over your sadness with mine.

My hopes, prayers and best wishes go out to you and your friend. Take care.

Same here. Sorry to hear about this.

Her story reminds me of something that happened to me. I had a weird sensation in my lower abdomen. Went to the doctor to have it looked at. It was the beginning of a lower hernia. It's a routine surgery where they put screens in place to do the repair. They do it laprascopically so the incisions are small. Before surgery was scheduled they had to do routine blood work.  My PSA score came back high. Turns out it was prostate cancer. Stage 3 which is only a little less aggressive than stage 4 which is VERY aggressive. The plan was surgery for removal of the prostate, a time to heal and then 39 radiation treatments.  I had all of that back in 2016. I'll never forget going in for treatments over the Christmas holiday. 

If I had not had the hernia problem I might  be dead today. For three years after  all blood tests came back at less than the ultra sensitive test could measure. <.02. About 6 months ago the levels rose ever so slightly. Still well below anything they can yet see with scans. It's a very fine line because if it gets too high it can spread again, so they are keeping an eye on it. If levels get to .2 they will probably resort to hormone therapy which knocks it back and stops it from growing. Right now I'm at .1. and they can't see it but assume it's probably somewhere in the pelvic area. Worst case it moves to my backbone and things can go downhill from there. 

Everyone is different, some men go for 10 or more more years with some kind of hormone therapy.  Others are not so fortunate. If they can see it on a scan they can go in and freeze the area or remove that tissue. That is, unless it gets into your bones. Right now they can't see it physically, only chemically. If they can catch it soon enough you have a much better chance of survival. My case was marginal. There was some spreading outside of the danger area. You can't ever eliminate it, at least with the science we have now, but they can  slow the growth down.

Why am I telling you this? Because you should get regular physicals and blood tests. I have seen 35 year olds with it . It isn't necessarily an "old man's" disease. It is true that most men who get it are older.  If you're 80, they probably won't do anything because they figure you'll die from something else before the cancer gets you if the cancer is slow growing. I know of one 70 year old who had it and is doing fine now after a removal. No traces of it. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

On Oct. 26, Jami underwent a grueling 12 hour (!) surgery to clean the cancer out. With the COVID rules in effect, she is only allowed 1 visitor a day. Her husband was there, but heard nothing from a person until around 1 am the next morning. All he had was a TV screen showing the statuses (statii?) of all the patients undergoing operations. Her mother my room mate was going crazy trying to find out if she was okay.
She is, and is going home tomorrow. Yay!
Thanks for everyone's thoughts and prayers for this person you've never met, and for the donations to her Go Fund Me account.
She begins 3 months of chemo in December. Merry Christmas!

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Thanks, everyone.
She had a setback. Went home, and less than 10 hours later she started feeling ill. Ill enough to call an ambulance. She had started bleeding internally, but they think it's under control now and she may go home (again!) tomorrow.

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  • 9 months later...

Jami didn't make it. She died Friday night.
She never got any better after the previous happy posts, and the cancer spread even while she was on chemo.
She made the decision to stop the treatment so she could enjoy the days she had left. Another music lover gone.
 

jamitat.jpg

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