Win Herberg Cancer Journey

Win has Started a Caring Bridge and we have updated her Go Fund Me to help with medical expenses and future preparations.

Message Written by Win:

To give you the back story, I was declared breast cancer free in December, 2021, by my Methodist Hospital oncologist. I decided to go to a local general practitioner for follow-up bloodwork in April of 2022 reminding them to send the results to my oncologist at Methodist. I found out too late that the cancer blood work had not been done and had not been sent to Methodist. I was diagnosed at Methodists in December 2022 with stage 4 pancreatic cancer after experiencing some pain between my ribs.

Because of Covid, it was extremely difficult to get an appointment with anyone at Methodist. We had to wait 8 hours in the Methodist ER to get the necessary tests for a thorough diagnosis. I found it very difficult to even get a zoom meeting with doctors, and spent hours on hold to speak to someone. Finally, I met on zoom with a gastroenterologist who told me I had just a couple weeks to live unless I had an emergency procedure to place a bile duct stent. I had the procedure shortly after that at Regions and my bilirubin numbers came down enough by the first week of January, 2023, to start chemotherapy. I did not qualify for surgery.

Over the course of 6 months, the chemotherapy worked to shrink the tumors in my pancreas and liver enough to go on maintenance chemo which was now administered every 3 weeks instead of every two. That chemo regimen worked to keep the cancer shrinking for more than a year. In April of 2024, I had an appointment with Mayo Clinic doctors who told me they agree with my current chemo regimen and that I don’t qualify for any clinical trials.

I spent a couple months this summer working in my pottery studio in order to take part in the Baker Orchard Festival two days at the end of September. It was wonderful and therapeutic to work in the studio again even though every task took twice as long. Kelly and I filled two rooms in the Orchard House with our pottery and had a glorious two days of seeing so many relatives and friends who visited.

In September of 2024, the cancer marker number started to go up and a CT scan showed that the cancer started growing again. I am now taking two new cancer drugs and going on my second round. Each round is three treatments.

I feel very fortunate to have a 24-year loving partner, Kelly, who is also now my caregiver. He is my constant companion and cheerleader. My three children and many relatives and friends continue to include me in their lives and make sure that I still have some fun.

Now we have a few weeks to wait to see if the new chemo is working. We will make updates as we learn new information.