Hello everyone,

Just wanted to let you know that Rick is doing very well. He was moved out of ICU today into a regular hospital room where he will spend the balance of his stay here (7-10 days).  His vital signs all look good and the nurses have begun to slowly unhook him from the various monitors, IVs, etc. He is in quite a bit of pain and very tired but is managing well with the help of a variety of medicines. The doctors and nurses here have been awesome, and he is receiving wonderful care here at Hopkins.

He would love to have some visitors this week, starting on Monday, so let me know if you plan to come as he can't have more than 3 people in the room at one time, and he will need some breaks to rest and recover. He can't eat or drink yet and this will be carefully monitored (he is literally allowed only 10ccs of water per hour right now) also no food please.

He sends his love to everyone and he is so grateful for all your support (he dictated that part to me!). Me too as I know he loves hearing from you all.

Allison
703-407-7193

Hello!!

This is Allison posting for Rick and I have great news!  The doctor said that the surgery could not have gone better and that they were able to get the tumor out. The margins were negative and there are no signs of cancer anywhere. He did have to remove about 80% of his pancreas, his spleen and a few other things to make the digestive connections all work correctly but this was all planned.

Rick is still in the OR and will be moved into ICU for close observation over the weekend. He is expected to be here 7-10 days and my guess is no visitors for the first few as they already warned us that the initial recovery will be tough. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and kind thoughts. It looks like they all helped!!

You are welcome to text me and I can read it to Rick as his phone is off - for the first time ever.

Allison
703-407-7193

This is my last post before surgery Friday. Which is just as well, since I have nothing new to post.

I'd just like to say that I am very calm and confident as I get ready for the operation. I'd like to say that, but it's a complete lie. I'm very anxious and having trouble sleeping, but Friday keeps getting closer nonetheless. I try watching the political news to make the time move slower.

I'm asking Allison to update my blog regularly while I'm in la-la land, and I hope she won't have any trouble. So check in occasionally to see how it's going.

I love you all, my great family and friends, and I'm so grateful for your support. See you soon.

My surgery is set for January 29th. They will do the work-up on the 21st.

I don't know all of the details yet. I'm feeling stunned today, overwhelmed that the date is set and just two weeks away. I seem to use that word, overwhelmed, pretty often, but I don't know how else to say it.

I know a few things: the surgery will be 6-8 hours if they can cut out all of the cancer and adjacent tissue, and about three hours if they decide they cannot. In that case they will give me more radiation to try to degrade it further. Most patients are in the hospital for about a week. The recuperation time is a month or two.

That's about all I know today. We haven't had much time to think about it or make any plans, so we'll need a few days before we know what help or support we might need. If you'd like to contact me, use rabraham1@cox.net or call 703-307-2702. I'll post again when I know more. Thanks!

I had a CT scan and saw the surgeon yesterday. There is some good news and some not-so-good news. The good news is that one of the tumors appears to be gone; it doesn't show up on the scan, and the doctor did not even mention it. Also, there is no spread of cancer anywhere - very important finding. The bad news, though, is that the other tumor appears to be unchanged. It has not shrunk, and it is still wrapped around lymph vessels and an artery. What we are hoping is that the treatments have degraded it to the degree that it can be cut away from the artery and taken out; in other words, that it is dead tissue that can be excised without complications. However, the surgeon won't know this until he goes in. If this is not the case, he will not be able to remove (all of) it.

He is supposed to call soon, perhaps today, with a date for surgery. It could be as soon as 2-3 weeks from now.

From what I understand this was the most likely outcome from my treatments. Still, I had hoped for the best possibility, and I'm feeling discouraged today. Yet there is nothing to do but continue to hope and pray for the best, and rely on the skills of my doctor, who I believe is as good as anyone in the world. As always, I appreciate the love and support from so many of you, and I know you will continue to be there for me.

I posted comic strip 7 today on the other blog. Look here:

http://rickstrailnotes.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2016-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2017-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=1

No real news from here. Continuing side-effects from treatments: less appetite, some fatigue and stomach discomfort. The biggest issue is neuropathy, which has continued and gotten slightly worse. The last word from the nurse is that it could take up to six months to fully subside, and in fact it might never go completely away.

I was able to do a couple of trips over the holidays, to Connecticut to see my sister-in-law and her family and to Christiansburg to see my family and a Tech basketball game. Some good times, some happy moments, and lots of drama. Those of you who have or had families can likely relate.

Next Monday the 11th I have a new CT scan and we meet with the surgeon. I expect they will set up the date for surgery, probably in February. This is getting serious and scary. I'll post again after that appointment.

Happy New Year, friends, and let's hope 2016 is a better year than 2015.