Medical update from Jan R.....

Finally! Some good news! We (Al, Maija, me)met with Maija's oncologist yesterday afternoon to hear the results of her laparoscopy. Keep in mind, that procedure was conducted in order to confirm the doctor's belief that Maija's cancer had NOT spread to her organs and in particular, her liver. And the good news is (drum roll).....it has not!! She still has "advanced pancreatic cancer" (that is the official name of the stage of her disease, for those of you that are surfing web sites on this topic), but this is certainly much better than the alternative (aka "distant metastasis").

Now that we know FOR SURE what her stage is, the doctor has recommended several treatment options and Maija (and Al) have selected the most aggressive option available (yea, okay, you're right...I also added my opinion to the mix!). In about 10 days, she will begin on a combination of radiation and chemo that will require daily visits to the clinic (some short, some all day). This first stage of her treatment will last 5 1/2 weeks and will probably knock her on her XXXX. Each week will become progressively more challenging to tolerate. Having said that, the doctor assures all of us that she can handle it and we KNOW that to be true. Also, different people react differently, so lets hope she can take this as she has everything else so far (i.e. amazingly in her stride!).

Once that 5 1/2 week regime is complete, she will have a month to "rest" and recover. The doctor will then reassess her situation and prescribe the next steps in her treatment. Those next steps will PROBABLY involve more traditional chemo (2-3 doctor visits per month).

You might be wondering why her treatments won't start for another 1-2 weeks (I certainly was! Let's get this battle going!!). The oncology radiation team needs with work with Maija over several appointments to design her personal radiation plan. Dr. Picozzi said it is a little like fitting a dress: it takes multiple appointments to get the tailoring just right.

Okay, that's all for now. Watch the blog for further updates as we kick off the treatments. And Maija has learned more about the organization "PanCan". In fact, the director will be in town soon and Dr. Picozzi is going to arrange a personal meeting for Maija and her "team". Be prepared and hang on to your wallets....Maija has a new mission!!