Who would have known that In February of this year a small lump under the right nipple would drastically changed my Fathers life. By the grace of God, his amazing wife and main supporter, found the lump and immediately took him to see the Doctor. I want to share a little background from her.

My husband, Mike, found a lump under his right nipple in February. I immediately made an appointment to get it checked out with the fear and anxiety of his previous cancer. After his throat cancer in 2019, we both thought his cancer had returned. He battled through many regiments of radiation and rounds of treatments to control the cancer and NEVER missed a day of work. On March 7th, after several test and mammograms, results came back and it was NOT cancerous, so the tumor could just be removed at a later date. That was a huge sigh of relief knowing it was not cancer again! Saturday March 9th, Mikes color began to change to yellow. At his outpatient surgery, I spoke with the Doctor about Mikes color and knew something was wrong. Surgery was cancelled and blood test and ultrasound were done. The Doctor then called the surgical unit in where we were waiting for results and told me to take Mike to a different hospital right way. After a week in the hospital it was determined that his caner had came back, PANCREATIC CANCER. We knew this was going to be an uphill battle and the prognosis was not good. Our oncologist was not very positive that the tumor could be surgically removed due to its position. Mike and I found ourselves talking about the "what-ifs" again. Mike was never afraid to die and very adamant about what he wanted if that happened. I was always positive and tried my best to not let him know the fear I had just thinking about losing him. I cant tell you how many sleepless nights there were and how many tears were shed. I felt like I was already grieving for my husband. Chemotherapy was the only choice and he was scheduled to have 12 rounds. Chemo was every Monday for 6.5 hours and then a "bag" of chemo for 48 hours. Then on Friday he was given a shot that caused excruciating bone pain for days. Then he would get one week to rest the body. After 8 treatments it was decided by our wonderful surgeon that Mike was a candidate for the Whipple procedure. This is a very invasive surgery requiring hours and hours of surgery. After 7.5 hours Mikes surgery was a success! The weight was lifted off our shoulders and we were on the road to remission and recovery! We came home after a week stay at the hospital only for Mike to have more issues from the surgery. Our first night home Mike was standing in our kitchen and passed out. When I got to him his eyes were open but he didnt see me. I thought this was it, he was not responding. Screaming for God not to take him when were so close to beating this monster. The paramedics came and he had 3 more episodes the following day. Another week in the ICU to recover. Its now December and we have 2 more rounds of chemo to go! We are extremely grateful for long term disability benefits and Social Security Disability insurance. Without it we would not have been able to make it as Mike could not work through the course of his treatments as he did with his throat cancer in 2019 when he never missed a day of work. Unfortunately, last week we found out our long term insurance overpaid us for 3 months. They have now suspended any more payments for care until the overpaid balance has been paid. I am staying positive and praying daily that Mike has a great scan in January and is back to work by February!!!

"Son, Life is like a rollercoaster. You will have your ups and your downs but always remember the ride back to the top!"

My father and I are, and always will be, best friends and this qoute is something he says to me on a regular basis. He has always been the rock that pulls everything together no matter the situation. I never saw him give up or even complain!!!

This time DAD, I want to say it to you! We are on that rollercoaster together this time and lets take this ride back to the top!!