Lily’s Story! 

I typically don’t like to share what is going on with me unless it’s a positive thing. I like being a private person and handling things on my own but lately it’s been hard to rely on myself. Because I have a majority of people on my socials being family or close friends, I thought it best to make a formal post updating people. I think that the last few months have made me feel vulnerable and scared. So it’s really out of the ordinary for me to post something like this but I’m at my last resort. 

I was in the ER for 14.5 hours July 13th where I had to get a CT, Ultrasound and MRI due to abdominal pain that consistently grew over the span of 8 hours. I was notified that I have a pancreatic tumor at the head of my pancreas. 

I have gone to UCSF and gotten a biopsy, this is a rare tumor that occurs in women 18-30 and I need to have surgery. This tumor is not totally benign, it can metastasize into cancer or act like cancer and take over my organs according to my surgeon. My surgeon is recommending a whipple procedure, so this tumor does not have the chance to keep growing and metastasize.

A whipple procedure is really intense and cuts out a good portion of my pancreas, takes out my duodenum and removes my gallbladder. They then sew my small intestine to my stomach, liver and what's left of the pancreas. (For reference, I put a picture below. All of the purple is being removed) it can take from 4-6 hours, and they would be doing an open procedure. I would be in either the ICU or a general room based on my condition post surgery to recover for a week of hospitalization. After that, I need to take 2-3 months off to recover from the procedure. 

I work 40+ hours a week and still go to school. Last September I had surgery where I had masses in my breast and I will also be seeing a specialist for a possible brain tumor (hopefully not, but I still need more tests to see). Everything is piling up around me and I felt the need to share as I may fall off the face of the Earth for a bit. 

My surgery is September 3rd, so I would appreciate some love and kind words as I am pretty scared and I TRULY dislike putting myself out here.