Dad’s 2.5 Year Pancreatic Cancer Update

Hey, my friends. I hope you’re all feeling safe and well during this time.

It’s been quite awhile since I wrote a blog post here, as I’ve spent the past 18 months writing a book – which took 100% of my energy and focus. I can’t believe it’s actually done and will be out in the world in just a few short weeks! The covid-19 situation has made everything feel veryyyy different than expected (for everyone in the world, I know). I’m doing my best to stay connected to my work and take care of myself amidst a lot of uncertainty and change, as we all are right now.

I live in Brooklyn, which, as you know, has been hit very hard with this pandemic. I haven’t been in New York City since the first week of March. I’ve been quarantining up in Massachusetts, which has been nice because I’m spending a lot of time with my parents and taking daily walks in the forest (my new favorite thing – I don’t know how I can ever live without tree therapy again).

I didn’t plan to quarantine up here. I came up to Boston on March 9th to go to my dad’s appointment with his oncologist, to hear the latest update on his treatment (and ask a zillion questions, as I always do). I planned to head back to NYC 2 days later, as I had so. many. things. planned. Recording my audiobook in the studio. Media training. Filming a course with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Recording an in-person episode for Dr. Frank Lipman’s podcast. Planning the details for my NYC book launch event. My schedule was set to be all-systems-go until well after May 19th (the day my book officially comes out).

I had a phone call about my book launch with someone in the book publishing industry in late February. I had already been exhausting myself with meetings and appointments related to the book. I was really stretching myself thin, after 18 months of writing the book (this includes the time I worked on the book proposal) – working harder than I’ve ever worked on anything before. I had been journaling about burnout and how tired I was. Even though all the activity felt new and exciting, I would often come back to my apartment after a day in the city and collapse on the couch in tears, from my nervous system being so overstimulated. “When am I going to get to rest?” I asked on the book launch call. “Hmm. Probably August?” was his reply. I pretended not to hear that.

Then, in that first week of March – one by one, everything on my calendar started to get postponed or canceled.

It became obvious that there was no going back to Brooklyn, at least not for a bit.

Instead of running around NYC during the past 6 weeks as I thought I would be, I’ve been recording remote podcast episodes, walking in the forest, recalibrating, cooking, and having a lot of unexpected time to just think and feel. Although I would have never wished for a global pandemic (of course not), there are blessings in being able to slow down, get quiet, and really listen to what’s happening in my heart and soul. As it turns out, quite a bit is happening, and I haven’t slowed down to tend to those whispers or aches for a long time. (Ok, clearly, I haven’t blogged in awhile and a lot of writing is trying to come out – but I’ll save my heart and soul chronicles for another day. Or another book? Oh no…)

Anyway, that’s the rundown of how I came to be quarantining up in MA with my parents (or, as I call them, my “quarantine roommates”). Despite the many challenges of this time, I know I’ll look back on this phase for the rest of my life and be grateful for it, even with a lot of anxiety, uncertainty and change. I often hear Tim Ferriss mention this article by Tim Urban: The Tail End. It points out that for many of us, after we graduate high school – if we move to a different city from our parents, we will have already spent the majority of the time in our lives that we’ll ever get to spend with them. I can say without question now that this will not be true for me. Since my dad got diagnosed with cancer in 2017, I’ve spent more time with my parents than I ever would have otherwise. Especially now, since I’ve been with them every day for almost 2 months.

Dad’s Cancer Update – Quick Summary Of His Journey

That brings me to the point of this blog post, which is my dad’s cancer update. I’ve gotten some questions on instagram lately about how he’s doing, so we figured now would be a good time to post an update.

If you know us, or you’ve been following along for the last few years, here’s the summary of what’s happened:

• In November of 2017, my dad was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer that had spread to the liver.
• He has been doing chemotherapy treatments at Dana Farber Cancer Center in Boston ever since.
• When he got diagnosed, I began researching my heart out for ways I could help.
• Through all of my research, cannabis and medicinal mushrooms became the all-star players of his at-home regimen, in addition to the chemotherapy.
• He has done exceptionally well through the whole process (50+ rounds of chemo!), his tumor blood markers have been in the normal range for over a year and half, his scans have been stable, and he’s experienced very minimal side effects from the chemotherapy. (Here is a blog post detailing how we got started with the cannabis and mushroom regimen).
• The research I did and the exploration my dad and I went on together unexpectedly became the foundation for me writing a book. This book details everything I’ve learned over the past few years – not only about cannabis and mushrooms for cancer and chemotherapy side effects, but for daily wellness. My dad even wrote the introduction to the cancer section of the book, which is so incredibly special!

Update As Of April 2020

Now, it’s been over 2.5 years since he got diagnosed (in August, it will be 3 years since he started experiencing symptoms of digestive distress, related to the cancer).

Dad has been off of chemotherapy for 3 months. Because he has been doing so well, in January his oncologist decided to give his body a break from the chemo to see how he would respond. In the meantime, he’s continued on the same cannabis and medicinal mushroom regimen at home.

He just had another scan, and we had a Zoom meeting with his oncologist to see if he wanted my dad to re-start chemo.

Dad’s CA 19-9 (the tumor blood marker for pancreatic cancer) is at 18. Normal is between 0-37. He started at 1810. 

His scans show the tumors to be stable and dormant (this means they don’t seem to be growing or showing any activity – they may be getting smaller, but the difference is too small to tell for sure).

With pancreatic cancer, this is extremely good news. If you know anything about pancreatic cancer, you know it is notoriously difficult to treat — and having stage 4 pancreatic cancer completely cured is not a typical outcome (although definitely not impossible).

Because these results are so good, his oncologist wants him to stay off of chemo for another couple of months, until his next scan in June. This is wonderful for many reasons.

50+ rounds of chemo does take a toll on the body. Without the chemo, his energy is higher and he is feeling really well. He also doesn’t have to go into the hospital every other week to get treatments right now, which is a huge relief because he doesn’t have to be exposed to more people than necessary.

We are also SO thankful that medical cannabis dispensaries have been allowed to remain open in Massachusetts during this time. They are absolutely essential businesses that are selling essential medicine for so many patients. 

I know this is going to sound unbelievable, but I’ve been quarantined with my dad for 6+ weeks – and most days, I forget he has cancer. It’s just not something we’re really talking about much, because he isn’t complaining of any side effects and he has been going about his projects around the house and in the yard as he normally would. He is grateful for every day of life and expresses that gratitude often. We are making the best of quarantining together by having lots of special conversations over coffees and dinners (and watching Fantastic Fungi and the entire series of The Good Place!)

So, all is well on that front. We continue to appreciate all of your support, well wishes, curiosity, and love.

Here’s Dad today, reading over and approving this blog post. :)

 

For all of the caregivers out there wanting to support a loved one through chemotherapy, I dedicated my book to you. Every person and every cancer is different, but I wrote the book I wish I had at the beginning of this journey. Read the introduction to my book and get the Upgrade Your Immunity chapter for free here. I hope you find it helpful in some way.

Sending you all virtual hugs and soothing energy at a time when a lot of us have frazzled nerves. If you have access to nature right now, please go spend some extra time alone with trees. It is unbelievably healing.

Loving you,
Jenny