Dear sadiegrace,
I love the tone of humility and grace in your response! You are very inspirational! I didn't have as much as a reprieve as you from pancreatic cancer; only 4.5 months. However, my dad who had it over 24 years ago was misdiagnosed (food poisoning!) and by the time he was properly diagnosed it was too late to do any treatment because it was literally in every organ of his body and lived for only 4 more months. He came to live us during his time of hospice (they are the most empathetic and kind group here) and they made life easier for all of us. Even though I only had 4.5 months of "cancer free", though it really never was the case as the scar tissue around my hepatic and celiac arteries that the radiologists and hence my drs called scar tissue, was actually soft tissue cancer that apparently appeared in the extra month of recovery due to complications from my surgery before I could begin my chemo; during that those 4.5 months I was elected to the Bolsa Chica Land Trust Board, and started my own little environmental consulting business where I worked part-time, and obtained a few state certifications related to water quality. I'm very thankful for those 4.5 months when I lived my life to the fullest in light of seeing my dad's withering state several years ago. I have a very aggressive cancer and am getting chemo again, but based on the genetics of my tumor, I don't have a lot of hope unless I can get into clinical trials and it works. My biggest concern is similar to yours, dotting i's and crossing t's so that my kids don't have to do much when that time comes and to make the transition as easy for them as possible and to get tested genetically. God bless you and you have my sincere admiration and prayers!