A First Step

Taken at the U of C Medical Center

"Beauty is everywhere a very welcome guest." -Goethe

Today, our day began with this incredible piece of art hanging on a wall at the University of Chicago Medical Center. It reminded me to appreciate the beauty that surrounds us.

As we wandered the halls of the hospital, navigating our way from the pathology department to pick up Derek's biopsy slides to the office of a genetic counselor, we saw the beauty in people who stopped to ask if we needed help getting to where we needed to be. Every person we saw today was incredibly kind and helpful, and Derek instantly felt a sense of comfort as we faced the day.

Our first meeting was with a genetic counselor, who shared with us that because of a known gene mutation in one of his aunts, Derek is at an increased risk for carrying the same gene mutation of the BRCA2 gene. We learned that carriers of the BRCA2 gene are at an increased risk for pancreatic cancer along with other cancers such as breast, ovarian, and prostate. Typically, we hear of many women being tested for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, but we were fascinated to learn that this gene can affect men as well. While this information will be incredibly important to the future of our three children, Derek may be eligible for certain medications if he has the gene mutation. We will find out whether or not he is a carrier for BRCA2 in about three weeks.

After our visit with the genetic counselor, we sat down with Dr. K, Derek's oncologist. Dr. K met with a tumor board earlier in the day where Derek's case was presented to a team of experts. As we know, Derek has been diagnosed with an adenocarcinoma tumor in the tail of his pancreas. What makes Derek's case particularly complicated is that his tumor is considered borderline resectable because the tumor is encasing a vessel knowns as the celiac artery. This means that surgery may never be an option for Derek.

Dr. K recommends that Derek begin an extremely agressive chemotherpy regimen in the next two weeks, and thanks to a good partnership with NorthShore Health Systems, he will be able to get his chemo closer to home. Right now, we are hopeful that the treatment will be able to shrink his tumor enough to make him a surgical candidate. In about four months, Dr. K predicts that she will be able to make that determination.

Derek and I will likely travel to some of the nation's top cancer centers that specialize in pancreas cancers for a second and third opinion, but these opinions are related to surgery. The chemo regimen is standard of care for someone with Derek's diagnosis, so we are not in a rush to leave Chicago quite yet.

We want to thank everyone for supporting our family during this time. The positive messages sent to Derek have been incredibly uplifting and will continue to be an important part of his ongoing treatment. If you have not signed up yet, please do so by texting @BigDFaust to 81010.

Finally, I want to say that as difficult as this journey will be, I still believe that it brings out the beauty in everything and everyone. Our children, parents, siblings, and extended family overwhelm us with endless love, compassion and care. Our friends lift us up with their spirit of support and encouragement on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis. Our co-workers cheer us on and remind us that fighting cancer will not define either one of us. How lucky we are to have such a beautiful life together, one that we will not take for granted for a single second.

Feel free to share our blog with others and consider making a donation to any organization that funds pancreatic cancer research.

Thank you, Angie, for this awesome t-shirt!