Our Fight to Beat Pancreatic Cancer
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On April 5th our family received unimaginable news. Our father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. This form of cancer is extremely fast growing and is rarely caught in early stages because symptoms are not present.
It all started with a visit to the GI doctor because my dad was experiencing stomach pains and aches in his lower back. The doctor had first diagnosed him with chronic pancreatitis. As a week passed, my dad was still experiencing excruciating pain in the same areas so he decided to go back for another checkup. Upon his return, the GI doctor decided to take a biopsy sample and run some tests. The biopsy results came back and showed that it was consistent with moderately differentiated pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma – pancreatic cancer. The doctors were as shocked as my family. My dad is only 58 years old, an active person, eats healthy and had no other symptoms. Now what we thought would be a controllable disease turned into a chemotherapy, major surgery, rehab after surgery, and the life changing news that will be part of his life.
The good news is that the cancer was caught early and the doctors have given him a 9 month plan. Three months of aggressive chemo, then surgery, then three more months of chemo. The surgeon is hopeful that the tumor can be removed. My dad had his first chemo treatment on Tuesday, which was a full day at the hospital followed by a chemo pump at home for 48 more hours. He will start this process over in 12 days and continue this routine for the next three months.
Those who know my dad would vouch for him being the most loyal person and the most hard-working family man. For the past 30 years my parents have run their own family restaurants while working tireless hours 365 days a year to provide support to their four daughters. They recently sold their last restaurant in hopes of working less and having a more balanced lifestyle.
My dad is currently employed as a Sous Chef, due to the physical working conditions of his job we don’t know how much longer he will be able to keep working. However, being the hard worker that he is, he is determined to work up until the day he can’t. The day that he received surgery to place the port in his chest for the administration of the chemotherapy he proceeded to go to work and spend the next 6 hours on his feet. He has also repeated this feat after his first sessions of chemotherapy itself.
No matter how strong my dad is, eventually the chemotherapy is going to take its toll on my dad and our fear is that when he is no longer able to work, his insurance will no longer be able to provide coverage for his medical expenses. Without medical coverage the expenses of the chemotherapy and the Whipple surgery will be a monumental cost to our family.
We are reaching out to humbly ask for help to relieve some financial burden my parents are dealing with and will be facing in the near future. The money will be used for medical expense not covered by insurance to get a hold of financials as they try to keep life as normal as possible.
We are so grateful to all the people who have been there for us so far.
It all started with a visit to the GI doctor because my dad was experiencing stomach pains and aches in his lower back. The doctor had first diagnosed him with chronic pancreatitis. As a week passed, my dad was still experiencing excruciating pain in the same areas so he decided to go back for another checkup. Upon his return, the GI doctor decided to take a biopsy sample and run some tests. The biopsy results came back and showed that it was consistent with moderately differentiated pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma – pancreatic cancer. The doctors were as shocked as my family. My dad is only 58 years old, an active person, eats healthy and had no other symptoms. Now what we thought would be a controllable disease turned into a chemotherapy, major surgery, rehab after surgery, and the life changing news that will be part of his life.
The good news is that the cancer was caught early and the doctors have given him a 9 month plan. Three months of aggressive chemo, then surgery, then three more months of chemo. The surgeon is hopeful that the tumor can be removed. My dad had his first chemo treatment on Tuesday, which was a full day at the hospital followed by a chemo pump at home for 48 more hours. He will start this process over in 12 days and continue this routine for the next three months.
Those who know my dad would vouch for him being the most loyal person and the most hard-working family man. For the past 30 years my parents have run their own family restaurants while working tireless hours 365 days a year to provide support to their four daughters. They recently sold their last restaurant in hopes of working less and having a more balanced lifestyle.
My dad is currently employed as a Sous Chef, due to the physical working conditions of his job we don’t know how much longer he will be able to keep working. However, being the hard worker that he is, he is determined to work up until the day he can’t. The day that he received surgery to place the port in his chest for the administration of the chemotherapy he proceeded to go to work and spend the next 6 hours on his feet. He has also repeated this feat after his first sessions of chemotherapy itself.
No matter how strong my dad is, eventually the chemotherapy is going to take its toll on my dad and our fear is that when he is no longer able to work, his insurance will no longer be able to provide coverage for his medical expenses. Without medical coverage the expenses of the chemotherapy and the Whipple surgery will be a monumental cost to our family.
We are reaching out to humbly ask for help to relieve some financial burden my parents are dealing with and will be facing in the near future. The money will be used for medical expense not covered by insurance to get a hold of financials as they try to keep life as normal as possible.
We are so grateful to all the people who have been there for us so far.
Organizer
Bonnie Wu
Organizer
Minneapolis, MN