We had decided in May not to operate at that time in order to give me and my body more time to recover from the immunotherapy attack. It also allowed me to attend the most important event in my sister’s life. Her graduation from The University of Maine, Farmington with a BA in Political Science…Magna Cum Laude. I was and will always be SO PROUD of her for this accomplishment.

I then spent my summer at the pool. Every morning our fun little group met for early morning swim. It is the single best way to start the day. We had great mornings with sunny warm weather and I don’t recall a day with rain. Many days I would return in the afternoon and spend a few hours. I would spend several hours every Saturday and of course my bestie MC and I enjoyed many Sunday Runday adventures always followed by Ladies Who Lunch. It’s a life!

In early September I headed north to hop on “my boat” and take 5 days of peace, relaxation and renewal on the waters of Penobscot Bay. My friend Mary was able to join me on this trip and we enjoyed seeing some familiar faces and meeting some fun new sailors. The giggle girls from Scotland were among my favorites!

In late August I had another set of scans. They continue to look good with no spread of the cancer and only minimal growth in one of the two tumors. This was very good news. When I returned from Maine, I met with my surgeon at Mass General. All of my incredible team of doctors had already discussed the scans and the proposed plan for surgery.

So on Wednesday October 14, Dr.Motaz Qadan, the foremost expert in pancreatic surgery in the world will operate on me and take my cancer away. He will be taking the tail of my pancreas, my spleen, possibly my gallbladder and if I can convince him, my appendix while he’s there! I think he is as excited and happy for me as I am. This procedure will not be easy and he warned me to expect some difficult times during recovery. But he also encouraged me that I can and will get through this and be well on my way to a long happy and healthy life. I trust him with every fiber of my being…and you would too if he was your surgeon!

So in 3 weeks I will begin what we hope is the final chapter of this cancer journey. It’s been a ride.

I will see you all on the other side.