In August of 2005 Teddy and I went to Milwaukee to visit our children and our 2 week vacation turned in to 3 months. 2 weeks prior to leaving Phoenix Teddy started itching. We were thinking in terms of allergies like tomatoes or detergent. A day after we arrived in Milwaukee he started to get very sick with a hint of yellow. In 2 days he totally jaundiced and we went to see my son's Family Doctor who ordered some scans and an endoscopy. Five days later the diagnosis came as Bile Duct Cancer. The surgeon said he would need a Whipple Surgery, the largest surgery to the human body, not life threatening, but huge. The mass was in the bile duct valve and when he got in there if he saw it had spread he would abort the surgery. After 4 hours the surgery was aborted not because it had spread but the dye from the endoscopy had leaked and practically destroyed the pancreas which needed to be healthy so that he could cut the head of it to get to the valve. After a week in the hospital Teddy came home to my son's to recoup and let the pancreas heal. About 10 days later he started to get ill again.  Then one night he lost control of his bowels, bladder and could not stand up and we called the Paramedics and took him to the hospital. His blood pressure was 60 over 45 and he had developed a double e coli infection. He spent 9 days in the hospital when the doctor said we could not wait any longer and the Whipple was performed again but this time was very successful. His is gall bladder and duodenum was removed and everything else was rearranged. We spent another month recouping and finally we came home with 2 stents in his side one for bile, the other for his stomach. The tubes both blew out on the plane about 1/2 hour from Phoenix. I had to have an ambulance pick him up at the airport and take him to the hospital. We waited 3 hours to be seen and finally I called the surgeon in Milwaukee and asked if I could take him home and just put a bag over the openings where the tubes were. He said yes, I did and we were on our way again. After another 2 weeks he started having some problems and the Oncology Surgeon we choose here discovered that a small hole developed at his resection. Being that he was 73 and had been through quite enough she suggested rehab for 1 month with nothing but an IV. Only wet swabs on his lips and NOTHING to eat or drink and perhaps the hole would heal without another surgery. He was game, it healed and he came home again.

         For 2 1/2 years he did just fine and last April the cancer returned where his duodenum used to be. We discovered this due to the surveillance of the Oncologist we were using. The new mass also pushed his right urethra closed and he was not urinating from the right kidney. Now we had to also get an Urologist involved. A stent was placed to drain the urine and he had to wear a bag again.

In the meantime 2 Oncologists said he should not do more surgery and chemo would not help so we should try Cyber Knife. Well, the insurance company in their infinite wisdom would not OK the CK until he had radiation to shrink the mass from 7cm to 6cm. Last summer he had 25 radiation treatments and it did shrink the mass. This past December he had his Cyber Knife and the radiologist only had to give him 3 treatments. He graduated and as of this week his LAB results    were perfect. The Oncologist will now see him every 2 months and he will have LAB work every month.

As for the damaged urethra it now has scar tissue from the stents being exchanged every 2 months and we are to see a new Urologist January 15th.

Through all of this, Teddy has remained strong of mind (guess it helps to be Sicilian) and his motto is ATTITUDE is everything! We feel very blessed, very grateful for top doctors, and will enjoy this respite until it comes again, which we know will happen. It’s the nature of this beast.

Sincerely,
Elaine (Lainy) Sardina.....Wife and Caretaker