Pancreatic Cancer

Hey! This is my first blog! This blogspot is of course so that you can know how my dad is doing! Right now this all we will know until December 12 when he will go to have more tests taken to tell how far the cancer has spread. Heres what happened when we found out. This was originally an e-mail that I sent so sorry:).
Dad spent Tuesday and Wednesday in the hospital. The doctors originally thought that he had gallstones and then they thought that he had something clogging his gallbladder. He had a Endoscopic Retrograde Changiopanceatography Exam:) and they found out that he had a "bulbous ampulla" plugging up the pancreas tube. It was causing him pain and making it so that anything that he ate came right back up. To stop the pain they placed a stent in the "bulbous ampulla". (a stent looks like a white and green cigarette with a needle at the end:)) They believe that cancer in the pancreas is pushing the "bulbous ampulla" down because of the size of it, because everyone has a "bulbous ampulla". If the biopsy comes back positive, then lets just say that the survival rate is not very high. Though there are a few treatments, such as a transplant, removal of the pancreas, radiation, or chemo, but the success of these treatments really depends on how far the cancer has progressed. Lets just hope that it hasn't progressed or that it isn't cancer but just an abnormal sized "bulbous ampulla".
Now that we have gotten the test reviews back from the test he took when I sent the e-mail, we have discovered that there is cancer, but it has not gone past the pancreas walls. This is VERY good, and a huge blessing. If the cancer had left the pancreas then it would have been almost impossible for him to survive, but because it has not left the pancreas he can have a Whipple Surgery (www.cancercenter.com and search Whipple Surgery). Though the results of the procedure are not the best (infections, bleeding, leaking difficulty emptying the stomach after consumption, inflammation of the pancreas, failure of other organs, such as the heart, kidneys and liver, and definitely diabetes), but way better than dying.
The rest of us are great though a little down and a few of my siblings have colds. The weather here is great! Its November and it has only snowed once!