Be Your Own Advocate

Jack Taylor

• Jaundice in the eyes led to diagnosis
• Initially misdiagnosed tumor in bile duct
• Surgery to remove the tumor
• Chemo after surgery

Nobody wants to wake up in the morning and see yellow discoloration in the whites of their eyes.

In early 2022, my doctor, Dr. Tejas Joshi, recommended that I lose some weight. I was already taking Jardiance, a pill for my diabetes, so he prescribed Ozempic. I started losing weight, but he wanted to do blood work to make sure everything was ok. We discovered that my enzymes were way off. At the same time my daughter and I both noticed that my eyes were a little yellow.   

I worked at Cabell Huntington Hospital in Huntington, West Virginia, so Dr. Joshi sent me to Dr. Wes Frandah, an interventional gastroenterologist, for a colonoscopy and then an ERCP. Dr. Frandah saw a small mass where my bile duct meets my pancreas. I would have to have a Whipple procedure to remove the cancer.

Not a Moment to Lose

I was lucky that we caught it so early, and yet there still wasn’t a moment to lose. My doctors recommended Dr. Michael Cavnar at UK HealthCare (Lexington, Kentucky), about two hours from my home in Huntington. I had surgery in May. The surgery went well, with clean margins. The doctor did a genetic analysis on the tumor as well. I was at UK HealthCare for about two weeks because of pain issues.

After I was released, I went on a long-planned cruise to Alaska with my family, starting on the July 4th weekend. At that time, we still believed it was bile duct cancer, and the Whipple was the only treatment needed. However, when I got back, I found out that further examination of the cells showed that I had stage I pancreatic adenocarcinoma. I would have to have chemotherapy.

I began chemotherapy at Cabell. I had a couple of rounds of chemotherapy, but then I developed some numbness all over my body. The medication had to be altered to make the treatment tolerable.

Life since Treatment

The treatment worked! I have been tumor-free since May 2022. However, I have a few reminders of my experience. I must take pancreatic enzymes (brand name Creon) and vitamins. I have lost a lot of weight, something I needed to do. I have chronic pain in my back and neck so I am on opioids, and I have chronic constipation as a result. I work with Dr. Scott Mitchell to manage my pain.

Throughout this journey I have realized how important it is to have a strong relationship with your doctors. Because of my job at Cabell Huntington Hospital, I knew my doctors well. They were all excellent.

More importantly, I can’t emphasize enough the need for early testing and detection. Get regular checkups! We all have to be our own advocates, even when we know the practitioners well. Early detection could save your life!

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