e, my wife Jai and I had a 4 year old, a 2 year old, and a three month old baby.
2006年夏末, 我开始有一些异常的症状, 最后出现了黄疸。扫描发现是胰腺癌。那时, 我的妻子洁和我的三个孩子分别是 4 岁、2 岁, 和三个月大。
Pancreatic cancer is the most deadly of cancers, with only a 4% 5-year survival rate. The only hope is to be one of the 20% of patients (which I was) where surgery is possible. I had a Whipple surgery on Sept 19th, 2006; Dr. Herbert Zeh removed the (4.5cm) tumor, my gallbladder, 1/3rd of my pancreas, 1/3rd of my stomach, and several feet of my small intestine. I was in the hospital 11 days. Even with a successful Whipple surgery, only 15% of pancreatic cancer patients make it to 5 years, and there is no concensus about which chemotherapy and/or radiation after surgery helps. I found the Virginia Mason protocol, where early trials were claiming to get 45% of people to 5 years. However, it was an extremely toxic combination of chemotherapy and daily radiation: a nation-wide trial was shut down because several patients died from the treatment. There were two centers still offering the treatment: Virginia Mason in Seattle, and MD Anderson in Houston, and I was able to quality for the treatment in Houston. This happened in a whirlwind: the treatment needed to start within 6-8 weeks of the surgery. And Jai & I needed to figure out how to have somebody stay with me full time, and also take care of our 3 kids.
胰腺癌症是最致命的癌症, 5年生存率仅 4% 。唯一有希望的是那些 20%可手术治疗的患者(我是其中之一)。我在 2006年 9月 19日接受了胰十二指肠切除术(Whipple); 赫伯特.泽医生切除了我的 肿瘤(4.5cm), 胆囊, 1/3的胰腺, 1/3的的胃, 和几英尺的小肠。我在医院住了 11 天。即使在成功的 Whipple手术后, 只有 15%的胰腺癌患者存活 5年, 而对于术后的化疗和/或放疗方案,医界也无共识 。我找到维吉尼亚梅森方案, 初期临床试验提高 5年生存率到 45%。但是, 这是毒性很大的化疗和每日放疗的组合。因为有几名患者死于该治疗, 全国性的临床试验被终止了。有二个中心仍提供该疗法: 西雅图的维吉尼亚梅森医疗中心, 和在休斯敦的德州大学安德生癌症中心, 而我有资格在休斯敦接受治疗。说时迟,那时快: 治疗需在手术后 6-8周内开始。洁和我需要想办法既能照顾我们的 3个小孩, 有要有人全时陪护我。
I spent November and December at MD Anderson receiving IV Cisplatin once a week, interferon injections three times a week, continuous infusion 5-FU, and daily radiation. Fortunately, Jai's brother and sister-in-law took in our three kids (on top of their 8 and 12 year old), in Norfolk Virginia, while Jai stayed with me in Houston. Every weekend, Jai flew to Norfolk to be with our kids, and my sister Ruby or one of my friends (thank God for Jessica Hodgins, Scott Sherman, and Jack Sheriff) would come stay with me. I was also blessed with my colleague Chris Hoffmann, a CS profess