Terri had spent the last three months of 2013 going back and forth to the hospital daily. He mother had been ill and passed away the beginning of January 2014. Two weeks later, Terri began complaining of stomach pain. The pain was intermittent, but continued for several days. Concerned, she made an appointment with her Primary Care Physician. He ordered an abdominal X-ray late in the day. The X-ray was done after hours and we heard nothing. The pain worsened and Terri called the on-call doctor who happened to be her PCP. He noted nothing concerning on the X-ray, but suggested she go to the ER if the pain does not subside. I spent the late evening trying to persuade Terri to go to the emergency room but she argued since the X-ray didn’t show anything, it was probably gas pains and felt the pain would go away. At one point, we even got into the car and started to the hospital, but the pain stopped and she insisted on going back into the house. By 2:30 AM, Terri gave in and we headed to the ER where the emergency room physician ordered a CT Scan. Approximately and hour later he approached the foot of the bed, and reported the results. There was a mass on the tail of her pancreas. I didn’t hear much after that, bits….pieces… Terri was bewildered, stunned and not comprehending the conversation, just the word “mass.” Then he discussed admission and consulting oncology…..I think we both stopped breathing….
The doctor had ordered a narcotic pain med. Shortly thereafter, Terri began to get nauseated and vomited. The oncologist came in the exam room at change of shift. He attributed her nausea and vomiting to a “stomach bug” that was going around. I had informed him, it started after the dilaudid. He reported he had reviewed the CT Scan and felt the nausea was unrelated to the mass, and the stomach bug was going around. He did say he wanted to order other tests. Terri was admitted to the oncology floor.
The pain appeared under control and the Attending Physician ordered a colonoscopy for the morning. I went home to get Terri and I some personal items. When I returned, Terri was deathly ill. Every time she attempted a sip of the prep, she vomited. I thought this test could tell us more and I urged her to drink more of the prep. She vomited again. They ordered a nasogastric tube and another abdominal X-ray.
When Terri returned from X-ray , she was ashen. The nurse had yet to insert the nasogastric tube and Terri was still vomiting. I panicked, my heart was breaking and I became Shirley McClain. I unraveled, demanding she be transferred to Pittsburgh. Moments later, the Attending Physician reported on the X-ray. The mass was invading her colon and she was transferred to Pittsburgh.
I remember pulling into the Pittsburgh hospital just as Terri was being wheeled into the Emergency Room. At this point, she was very lethargic and barely responsive. I thought they would have rushed her to the OR, however they ordered more scans and admitted her to a trauma floor. They opted not to take her into the operating room because the colon was not totally occluded. I was panicked and wondered why they were waiting. In retrospect, I thank God they waited as she was blessed with the best trauma surgeon the hospital has on staff. She was taken into the OR the following morning and Dr. P ‘s steady hands , brilliant mind and kind heart removed the mass and preformed a large bowel resection and colostomy.
In little over twenty four hours our lives changed forever. Words like pathology results, Adenocarcinoma, CA 19-9 tumor markers, gemcitabine chemotherapy and PET scans soon became a part of our daily vocabulary. Terri had spent the last three months trying to understand medical discussions concerning her mother. She was depleted emotionally and physically. She didn’t have time to catch her breath; to mourn her mother’s death or process the last three months…and now…