Golden seeds...of hope?!

Jay got out of surgery safely today at 3:17pm. The doctor said his body was strong, and that he was the only one whose blood pressure didn't change at all during the entire procedure. He seems to have internalized his years of thick-skinned, steel-nerved reporter-dom.

While doctors were not able to remove the tumor, as it was wrapped around a major artery, they placed "golden seeds" on the entire surface of the tumor, and performed a bypass of the affected region. There was no cancer found outside the tumor, which is good news. The golden seeds will enable Jay to receive targeted, intense radiation on the tumor. This type of radiation is only available at 3 cancer centers in the country, and provides in 3 days what traditional radiation treatment takes 6 weeks to provide. The bypass will alleviate the symptoms that pancreatic cancer usually causes, and make him much more comfortable (and, importantly, able to golf and have a beer afterwards with little problem).

The hope is that this radiation and chemo will slow the tumor's growth, and in the best case scenario, shrink the tumor so that it may someday be removed. We heard stories of people living with the bypass for several years, and of one man whose tumor shrunk and was successfully removed.

Jay will now be at Beth Israel to recover for a week or so, and then will come home for additional recovery so he can store up the energy to fight the tumor during chemo & radiation.

Thank you all for you positive thoughts today. We think they made a difference!

Surgery Update - Cautious Optimism

Dad is currently in surgery (where he has been since 7:30am), which is good news! The doctor informed us that he was able to determine that the cancer has *not* spread to the liver, and therefore he has "opened him up."

The possible outcomes now are: 1) Best Case: removal of tumor with Whipple procedure (which will be followed by chemo.radiation). 2) Do a bypass of the tumor, which would enhance Jay's quality of life, but leave the tumor intact. The surgeon would do the bypass instead of the Whipple if the cancer has spread to the surrounding arteries or further.

When Jay received his anesthesia, he was upbeat, and after assuring me and my mother of his eternal love, he asked me 1) why I didn't always do what I was told, given that he always made reasonable fatherly requests, and 2) noting that it was his day to write his column, he asked me to write his newspaper column for him. I told him - no problem. He then asked the nurse how much the surgery cost. She told him she would have to get back to him.

We are not out of the woods yet, of course: please keep those well-wishes coming!!

Miracles Part 1:

The heavens parted to give us all a 4 and 1/2 hour round of golf today, and bestowed further miracles when Jay scored a birdie on a 475-yard par 5 hole - reaching the green in 2 shots, and driving for a record 330 yards! He has 3 witnesses: college roommate (and junior high classmate) Jeff Clunie, and his two caddies, aka, wife Emily and daughter Janice, who saw the drive - admittedly aided by an elevated tee and a moderate trailing wind.

But it was a miracle! And we are hoping, praying, and pleading for one tomorrow too.

Please send your prayers, wishes, thoughts to Jay between 7:30am and 3pm tomorrow. He will be in surgery for at least part of this time, and we expect to know much more about the prognosis after surgery.

Thank you all again for your email messages and calls of support. They keep Jay smiling through this difficult time.

News from Boston

The good news is: a renowned pancreatic specialist and surgeon, Mark Callery, is going to be operating on Jay on Thursday at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. We have cancelled Dad's surgery which was scheduled for Tuesday in Albany. Callery and his partner do more than 185 of these surgeries per year, which makes Jay feel like he is in good hands. If Callery finds that the cancerous tumor is not removable , he plans to put "golden seeds," a la Rudy Giuliani's prostate, on the tumor so that dad can get a super does of radiation to help combat it.

We must admit this wasn't the best of days. Jay, Emily and Janice stopped off to see a movie, Angels and Demons, after the doctor's appointment to lighten the mood. They were forced to flee, however, halfway through when the fire alarm went off. They continued to stroll to Fenway Park, where despite Jay's condition, he refused to pay $25 for his 32nd Red Sox cap.

One of Jay's tasks for tomorrow is to remove the magic marker from his legs which almost made the chief nurse at Beth Israel snicker at the provincialism of a place as remote as Albany.

Please keep the emails coming - it is a great way for Jay to stay connected to you all!

Outline for the next few days

So here's the plan for the next few days: Dad will get some more tests tomorrow to make sure that he has everything he needs for the consultation on Monday. On Monday, they'll hopefully figure out who will be doing the Whipple Procedure (that's the name of the surgery he needs) and when. They have kept the appointment to have the Whipple done in Albany on Tuesday but the doctor in Albany knows they might cancel the appointment. Over the next few days Dad will hopefully continue to feel better as the stent that was inserted on Monday does its job. Dad will also continue to try to eat more to fatten himself up for the surgery!