At the end of February 2024, Cairo had what we thought was a terrible flare-up of her IBD (which she&;s had for years). An ultrasound revealed she had, to quote, &quot;terrible pancreatitis&quot;. She was hospitalized for nearly a week on IV fluids and a lot of supportive care. Her labwork was a mess, showing anemia, a severe electrolyte imbalance, and a huge amount of immature white blood cells from severe inflammation. We were able to get a small sample of cells from her pancreas at a repeat ultrasound to send away for cytology. It came back with a devastating diagnosis: pancreatic adenocarcinoma.</p>
<p>We took Cairo home from the hospital on what we believed would be palliative care, determined to make her last few weeks as happy as possible. She went to get crepes, went on nature walks, ate chicken tenders, and received a lot of love and support. However, something amazing happened. Cairo was not just responding to palliative care - she was doing amazing on it. She began to eat better and get stronger. She started acting like her old self. Her 3-week recheck labwork came back completely normal. Finally, she had a recheck ultrasound -- which showed a completely normal, happy, healthy pancreas.</p>
<p>I was at home recovering from surgery while Cairo had her recheck, and I received one of the best texts I&;ve ever gotten: Cairo&;s doctors and the radiologist all believed that she did not have cancer. The severe inflammation from her pancreas caused her cytology to come back as false-positive for adenocarcinoma.</p>
<p>She will require frequent rechecks of her pancreas via ultrasound, her steroid doses have been raised permanently, and she&;ll need recheck exams and labwork every 3 months. But she is off nearly all her supportive medication and is absolutely thriving.</p>
<p>My sweet, beautiful old lady - what a miracle you are ♥️