On This Day, Last Year - Six Months of Turbo Cancer

Turbo Cancer: Day 1

June 12, 2022

Jan 15, 2025

On this day, last year, at approximately 7:00 am, my mom and I had a conversation via text:

Going to ER at south sub this am. I’ve been constipated for a few weeks but now nothing coming out. 😩 bad stomach pain, lump in groin. I’ll keep you posted

I will meet you there

Not going till about 8:30. You can take me if you want. I’m still packing a little bag and need to get dressed. Otherwise, dad is planning to take me. I could be ready at 8.

I can take you

Thanks! See you at 8. 💖

On my way

I grabbed my purse and drove to my mom’s house. It was strange. My mom had had several injuries over the years, but she had rarely been sick. In the weeks leading up to this day, she had had several small moles removed. It had been an out-patient procedure, and my mom didn’t suffer any side effects. The moles were biopsied and tested positive for melanoma. It had been caught early, and the doctor was confident that it had not spread.

I pulled up to my mom’s house. She had her bag packed and was ready to go. She told me, during the drive, that her groin had started to feel sore the day before, while she had been out shopping with my aunt Lenore. The pain had increased throughout the night, and then, in the morning, she noticed a small lump that hadn’t been there before. She had an appointment coming up with her primary care physician but decided to have the lump examined right away.

We arrived at the ER and were taken into a room. My mom explained her symptoms. Without performing any tests, the doctor proclaimed that the problem was constipation. The hospital staff was flippant. It was as if, in their opinion, we had been wasting their time. I tried to explain that, for my mom, constipation was a sign of a much bigger problem. It was as if I had whispered it to the wind. The doctors, their nurses and even the receptionists persisted in lecturing my mom on the importance of fiber supplements. I kept saying that she had eaten nothing but fiber for the previous twenty years. In response, they suggested adding a fiber bar or a fiber drink to my mom’s daily routine. I said that she couldn’t consume any more fiber than she already did. I said that fiber wasn’t the problem. I said that something else was wrong. I said that the pain seemed to be coming from the lump. I asked if the lump could be related to her melanoma. I became frustrated when they did not appear to listen to me, understand me, or believe me. They acted as if they had known my mom better than I did.

My mom prided herself on her diet. She was a lifetime member of Weight Watchers, and practically all that she ate was fruit and vegetables. Fiber was not the problem. Nonetheless, the doctor ordered prune juice, laxatives, stool softeners and an enema. During the next several hours, she was given every possible concoction that was intended to induce a bowel movement. It did not work. Her pain intensified. Finally, the doctor ordered a scan of her abdomen.

The test result showed swelling of both the pancreatic duct and the bile duct. According to the doctor, this was a specific condition referred to as the dual-duct sign, which was indicative of pancreatic cancer. My mom was admitted for further testing. Over the next five days, she would be subjected to a wide array of tests and procedures. In the end, the doctors said that she was fine. They cited constipation and inguinal hernia on her discharge papers.