I never expected to be here.

Hello,
I first started having noticeable symptoms May 2008. The usual nausea, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, etc. At first I thought maybe ulcer or gall stones. The ultrasound found gallstones and also something else; a fairly sizable mass. When my physician told me of the findings her whole demeanor changed. She became somber and said “I’m very sorry”. The C word was briefly mentioned. I was devastated. Then came the usual round of CT scan and MRI. All confirmed the presence of an 11 x 7 cm mass and 2 smaller masses. Finally I had a liver biopsy which confirmed my worst fears – Adenocarcinoma, unknown primary. They were felt to be metastatic . Fortunately I was finally referred to an Oncologist, Dr. Raman Qazi, affiliated with Strong Memorial and Highland Hospitals in Rochester, NY. This was in Nov 2008. I was immediately scheduled for a PET scan and specific serology tests to determine what was going on. The PET scan showed no other tumors and a serology test confirmed CC. This month I started chemo, Gemzar 1x/wk for three weeks, then a week off. This is my week off. So far no bad side effects; I still have my waist length hair. This causes some stares when I go for chemo. “Who’s the new guy”, “Is he in the right office”. I’ve lost about 25 lbs since summer but overall I’m not doing too badly. This lovely NY winter has afforded me several opportunities to go snowshoeing. I’m an also being referred to another physician to explore possibility of using ultrasound to ablate my tumors. I’m trying hard to ” Keep the faith”. Support of family and friends has been invaluable. I’m always getting presents of food to fatten me up.
I always had sort of a dark sense of humor; especially since my wonderful tour of duty in Vietnam where I worked in an Evacuation Hospital . Now, at least, I won’t worry about Alzeheimers that afflicted both parent’s familys.
Thank you all for being here for me. Peace.