The last couple days haven’t gone so well. Tim’s liver biopsy confirmed that his pancreatic cancer had metastasized. Of the various chemo options discussed with the oncologist, we felt the best one would be a new clinical trial. Tim signed up, but then the after-effects of his liver biopsy started up. He was very nauseous and very yellow from jaundice. The Kaiser docs decided the best course of action was to put in a metal stent to open up the duct and relieve all the blockage. This would be done endoscopically – a less invasive procedure.

When they put in the stent to open up Tim’s valve on, it didn’t go as well as they expected. From a half-hour procedure, we ended up in the hospital for 8 hours. The procedure itself went relatively ok, but towards the end Tim’s blood pressure dropped – a lot. Tim’s blood pressure came back up, but it was a long night of monitoring him before they let us go back home.

So far, Tim’s not feeling much better than before the stent, although he is slightly less yellow. But, because he’s feeling nauseous almost all the time, having an appetite is a big challenge.

The newest issue is that because of Tim’s jaundice (a very high billiruben count), he may not be eligible for the clinical study. That seemed to be our best option as far as having some hope. The stent that he had will eventually ower his billiruben count, but it usually takes 3-4 weeks. That leaves us with deciding whether to stick it out and see if Tim can qualify for the clinical trial. Or, start on one of the standard chemo treatments .
While all this is going on, we have yet another decision to make. We had scheduled a trip to Santa Fe as we usually do each Fall. That’s when we do a lot of hiking, photographing , and enjoying the New Mexico sky. We thought we would cancel going there, but now it seems like this might be one of the last chances we get. All the docs and nurses said, “Go, if you're feeling up to it.” So, if Tim starts to feel better “enough,” we’ll make a last minute decision.