
Stage 4 peri-ampullary endocarcinoma
Donation protected
Hello friends,family,friends of family,&family of friends…. My name is Corey Tourangeau, and I’m a father of 6 children, a carpenter foreman at a well known local corporation. Normally I would be the first person to jump at a chance to help those in need anyway possible we’ve never been a what I would consider a wealthy family but what we lack in funds… we fill our hearts with love and happiness in each other.. Anyways….. Recently I fell very ill and found myself in escanaba emergency department, my gallbladder had swollen to four times the normal size and overwhelmed with bile… luckily they caught it in time and I was rushed to Green Bay to have surgery.. Surgical team did a superb job and so my discharge and recovery began… 2 weeks later I was cleared to return to work with few limitations… surgeon explained there would still be some side affects as I no longer had a gallbladder which acts as a storage tank for excess bile to aid in digestion later in the small intestine. these side effects he described would be pale to white stools dark urine and maybe some jaundice but as my liver took over the job of my gallbladder these symptoms would slowly go away… so I continue to go to work daily fighting my urges to vomit bile continuously finally after a month and a half the pain and nausea got to a point that it’s unbearable… so I again take myself to the emergency department in escanaba and explain my symptoms to them and show them my skin and eyes are as yellow as Homer Simpson my urine darker than leaf tea and my stool white as paper they prescribed me some meds and ship me out. immediately I call my primary doctor and schedule follow up and physical,explain to them that I can come right away for labs which I did then return to work for last 2 hours of my day…. ring ring my primary office calls my liver enzymes are 4 times normal and they instruct me to go to E.R. Again for imaging… Ct scan revealed bile duct enlarged.. give me 2 options 1. wait for ambulance to take me to Marquette 2.discharge and take myself to Marquette I opt for number 2 Got to mqt about 2am sat GI planned mrcp for morning They suspect stone in bile duct since I have no gallbladder since apri 2nd Mrcp shows no stone But duct is 1.7 cm when it’s supposed to be 0.2 cm Put me on antibiotics with plan to discharge Monday …… I take myself to st Vincent in Green Bay where they did my gallbladder surgery ,GI at Marquette was very upset but signed my discharge Arrived at st Vincent 2 1/2 hours later They took labs again numbers very elevated N sent me to st Mary’s hospital west side. The following morning they did mrcp with no success,Sphincter of oddi and bile duct bloody gelatinous mess So no stent….Biopsy taken and sent to pathology ….Visited few hours later and informed they want put in drain and transfer me to UWMADISON Cancer evidence. what happens next… I don’t know but in the last 3 months I’ve only been able to work about 2 weeks and our household bills keep piling up everyday I wonder if they’ll be showing up to turn our electricity off at least we have each other hun I keep telling them its pains me so bad to be in this predicament but I just don’t know what to do anymore please lord help people find it in their hearts to help us i don’t know how much longer I will be hospitalized as I feel I keep snowballing down the mountain #UPDATE# Mrcp and Ercp procedures were done bilary tree tumorous and no chance of bile duct being routed directly into intestine so temporary exterior drain with catheter now becomes a permanent replacement until an alternative solution can be developed GI doctor has never seen anything like this in his career and is left stumped… nobody wants to touch me now until the tumor can be dealt with so we’re looking at 6 months to a year with a direct route from a bag to my bilary tree that I get to stumble around with and risk serious infection. Still in the hospital and haven’t seen my children in almost a week. At this point my employment is the least of my concerns I just want to be there for my family and make the best of the time we have left together. Biopsy results came back positive for Liver,pancreatic,intestinal cancer so our holiday weekend plans have changed to me staying in the hospital in Green Bay now there are complications with my “temporary” bilary drain tube not draining properly sign me up for more testing I say lets get this figured out im the type of guy that likes to make a lasting impression so why not do it medically also if I gotta be the Guinea pig then I guess I’ll be the one??ultrasound showed up to my room before I could even call home and mention imaging to my family more tests in the morning and we’ll take it step by step from there i may not remember how to process my bile but I’ll never forget how to smile we can’t live a better tomorrow if we don’t get at it today
Organizer
Corey Tourangeau
Organizer
Harris, MI