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!