Firstly I would like to start by saying a massive heartfelt thank you from our whole family for your generous donations.
I have an update on Mum to share with you. Some of you will know that last year surgery was not an option. When Mum was first diagnosed, the cancer on her pancreas was inoperable due to being so large. Strong doses of platinum-based chemo done a great job of shrinking her cancer on the pancreas and also, from what they can see, getting rid of some of her liver spots. The Olaparib has continued to shrink the tumour. According to her oncologist, Olaparib has worked so well for Mum because she is BRCA 1, and these results would not be the same for every patient.
Now that the cancer on her pancreas is significantly smaller, she has been offered the option of having surgery. This surgery is a laparoscopic/open distal pancreatectomy +/- splenectomy with excision of any obvious disease on the liver, in simpler terms taking the pancreas and spleen and any nasties on the liver.
Mum will stop Olaparib a week before surgery and go back on it as soon as she is well enough. Because Olaparib is not as harsh as chemo, she will be able to return to taking this drug much sooner than if she was returning to chemo. This will stop cancer from spreading again. Mum has had vaccinations to boost her immunity as she will now be more compromised not having her spleen.
We have a tentative surgery date soon but are still waiting to see if health insurance will cover the surgery. If not, Mum will go on the public list.
Thank you again for the kind words, love and support. Every donation makes a difference. Please continue to share this page, and I will keep you posted with surgery details.
