Update # 4: Rage

                      Do not go gentle into that good night,

                      Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
                       Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Above is the first stanza of a well-known poem by Dylan Thomas. The complete poem is available here. The poem was a reaction to his father's failing health at the close of life, but the clear intent of the poem is to encourage all of us to grapple with the Grim Reaper whatever the source of the threat.

At present, with no pain and few symptoms, my pc is just a concept–a construct in the minds of doctors, a smudge on the image of my pancreas, a treasonous traitor within. Even when the radiation and chemo treatments begin next week, I expect my initial rage will be against the side effects of the treatment. I will have to remind myself to focus my wrath on the cancer itself. :-)

I have decided to have the preliminary rad/chemo treatment here in Charlotte. There are to be five and a half weeks of rad/chemo followed by a CT scan to evaluate the effects, several weeks of R & R to recover from the treatment and, if all goes well, the Whipple procedure at Duke Cancer Center in Durham. The surgery would be followed by four more months of chemo treatment.

The die is cast. I wait and anticipate.

"This too shall pass" --John, JR, Rocky

P.S.
If you've read any good books lately, I'd love your recommendations. As the nausea and fatigue kick in during the treatment, I expect to spend a lot of time reading.

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