December 7:  During the past two days I have had consultations with a surgeon and also my gastroenterologist, both associated with Adventist Medical Center (AMC) here in Portland, OR.  Although I've not yet signed up through his office to perform surgery on me, if feasible, this Christian stalwart has taken time to visit and call me several times in recent days to pray with me, find out how I am doing, discuss options with me based on information to date, and assured me of his personal interest and ongoing prayers.  Today, Estelle, Ray (our son) and I, also visited with my most kind and personally caring physician/gastroenterologist at AMC.  But for my ethical constraints to protect their professional anonymity, I wish I could shout the names of both these physicians from the hilltops, as it were.  Like the surgeon, my gastroentrologist is also a Loma Linda graduate - incredibly gracious and extremely skilled and knowledgeable in his field.  He has gone way beyond duty to intervene with Health Net, my insurance provider, to have them overturn some ill-founded  decisions against tests required to arrive at the best diagnosis of my condition.  These stalwarts are both a credit par excellence to the medical profession in general and to AMC in particular for its pervasive caring culture. I could go on, but let me get to their preliminary opinions about the treatment direction I may be pointed to over the next few days. 

Arising from the endoscopy and biopsy which was performed on me on Tuesday of this week, the following:  I do have pancreatic adenocarcinoma (pancreatic cancer).  The abnormal lymph nodes in the gastrohepatic ligament which were identified by the earlier CAT scan, and a spot on the liver which was identified during the endoscopy procedure on Tuesday, were both found to be benign.  However, my case is still so 'borderline' that surgery on the pancreas would not be recommended at this time.  My consulting physicians lean in the direction of recommending that I first consider undergoing chemotherapy/radiation treatment to shrink the tumor on the pancreas. Once that goal may be achieved, the surgery option might be feasible, and would include a removal of the pancreas as part of the very major so-called 'Whipple' surgery procedure.  (You may wish to Google 'Whipple surgery' to find out more about it?).  This combined chemo/radiation and potential follow-up surgery option is a very hazardous undertaking, inasmuch as the success rate associated with this treatment protocal ranges around ten percent!  A group of physicians comprising the Tumor Panel at AMC will meet next Tuesday at noon to consider my case, and make the final recommended treatment option/s for the Birch family to consider.  Meanwhile, I need to undergo another CAT scan at AMC on Sunday, and will next Wednesday also consult with an oncologist and radiologist/oncologist about the risks, success rates, and prognosis of these respective treatments. My family are also open to researching other holistic treatment strategies that may complement the noble efforts of the medical fraternity.  Anything that may arise from that could come later.  We have enough to process at this time and into the coming week.

I can assure you that to process all the information we're dealing with as a family is a very formidable task. This includes some emotional rollercoasting, and processing thoughts that you never imagined you would ever have to deal with.  Suddenly facing one's mortality brings one head on to very imaginable ramifications of that reality.  This is where our faith and immense apprecation for God's all-sufficient Grace is bouying our spirits.  Yes, know that your prayers are indeed sustaining the Birch family as we're experiencing God's embrace through this trial.  His grace is giving us unquestioning peace and trust in His sovereign will about my future.   So, again, many thanks for your support and ongoing prayers.  Feel free to leave us any responses and comments you may wish to post on this blog.  We love to read them.