The endoscopy revealed that “there is a 3 cm lesion that is hypoechoic and heterogeneous with loss of interface of SMV.” Next? To do a consult with the best surgeon recommended to me: Dr. Gene Coppa, the Chairman of Surgery for Northwell Health (then known as LIJ) and a distinguished professor of surgery at the Hofstra- Northwell School of Medicine.
In an interesting twist of fate, my initial consult with Dr. Coppa was postponed for one week due to a severe snowstorm. Waiting another week to see him was not a fun time, as we were all so nervous.
Based on my various test results, Dr. Coppa recommended that I get Whipple surgery ASAP. He explained what this entailed; and it sounded pretty scary. He said that pancreatic cancer could spread very quickly and that we needed to act fast. OK, onward.
And Dr. Coppa was also amazing. Obviously, he had a very full surgery schedule. What was especially complicated in trying to squeeze me in was that the Whipple surgery itself was going to be 8-½ hours, besides Dr. Coppa’s own prep time. Nonetheless, he cleared the decks to operate the week after I saw him.
What a miracle. It was exactly 4 weeks (including the snow storm) from my first CT-scan until my Whipple surgery.
While all this pre-surgery stuff was going on, I was remarkably calm. I truly surprised myself with this. But, Linda the LOML was a nervous wreck as events unfolded. That was when I really saw how tough a serious illness is on the whole family, not just the person who is ill.