Starting in December 2010, back and abdominal pains doubled in intensity every three weeks. My PCP and various specialists found nothing but a hiatal hernia. I was finally diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in May 2011 after visiting the emergency room because of those pains. Soon thereafter, I was deemed stage 3 unresectable based on a 2.5 cm tumor wrapping the superior mesenteric artery.

Due to my knowledge of a specific familial genetic defect (BRCA2), my oncologist was able to select a non-standard treatment based on published case studies of individuals with this defect. Fortunately, this treatment also worked extremely well for me and I had a Whipple surgery in Sept 2012.

After surgery, I joined this Johns Hopkins clinical trial for recently resected patients. I am co-moderator on Reddit’s r/pancreaticcancer subreddit and ACOR’s pancreatic cancer LIST-SERV for those of you that love email. I’m furthering my understanding of cancer through online courses in biostatistics, cancer, evolution, and genetics through Coursera and FutureLearn.

In 2018, my BRCA2-affected father contracted pancreatic cancer too. Despite all the knowledge of this disease in our family, his diagnosis was too late. We experienced first hand how disparate care can be for young vs old, and major vs regional cancer centers. I hope to bring those experiences to you through these posts and videos.

Check out this summary of my blog posts.

Check out my YouTube channel.