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Last night...during the darkness, my brother passed away after a 3 year dance with pancreatic cancer....3 years is amazing considering it is usually a 6 month door to door type of cancer. He was lucky they say as it was caught somewhat by accident when what the docs first thought was a gall ladder issue was in fact this ass kicker. Usually, by the time you are symptomatic with pancreatic it is too late to do anything but manage pain and get ready to die...6 months. Fortunately (I tend to disagree with the fortunately portion of this program) he was a candidate for a deal called a Whipple Procedure whereas they basically gut you, re-plumb you and hope for the best. It did give him some extra time and they made it clear it was in no way a cure...the docs at Dartmouth-Hitchcock made it clear that pancreatic cancer will kill you eventually. Great call as they were correct. Having seen this procedure and the after effects including chemo, radiation and countless meds he had to take daily...I am all set with that option. No thanks. I will take the 6 months and tip my hat on the way out the door. In the end, cancer wins out again...decimating a decent man who gave 20 years of service to his country back in the day. No need for a lot of small talk but I felt I wanted to get this off my head...my brother was 10 1/2 years my senior and at 59, way too young to be shown the door. I fully believe there is something better out there after we are done with this place and with luck he is there now sipping a beer and having a laugh...pain-free, sickness free, and with a body that had not betrayed him....hanging with some friends and family who went this route before him. We all know somebody close that has seen first hand the ravishing effects of cancer...a real ball buster, but we also know that for the most part, we cannot pick and choose how we come and go from this place.
We will now return to our regularly scheduled programming!