Well, friends, I've got some tough news to share with you. My wife, Madie, whom many of you have met, has recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. That's the bad news.
The good news is it has been detected relatively early, and the diagnosis by the special pancreatic cancer team at the University of Denver Hospital is that it is "curable."
Madie's path ahead is two months of chemo, one session every two weeks. Then, following a rest month, surgery. After two more rest months, then four more months of chemo, one session every two weeks.
In other words, she now has about nine months of a hard, long journey ahead. Her multi-disciplinary team is one of the best in the nation, and for that we are grateful.
Her brother, Hugh, died of pancreatic cancer in the early 1990s when he was 47 years old. Frieda, my first wife, died of pancreatic cancer in early 2013. Frieda also had a brother who later died of pancreatic cancer as well.
Consequently, pancreatic cancer is something that deeply concerns us, our children included. So, we are just trying to take one step at a time, one day at a time, and do all that we can to support Madie.
We have established a page under "Madie Gustafson" at CaringBridge if you would like to check in on her journal entries.
I hope all is well with you and your families. I know some of you and your families also have been touched by cancer, so you probably well understand what Madie is now facing.
Best wishes, and stay safe.
Dan
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