Discovery’s Edge: Slay the Dragon

Thomas Hoffman of Spearfish, S.D., was 56, weighed 235, and had been diagnosed with prediabetes when he began to diet. As the pounds melted away, his wife became alarmed at his rapid weight loss. Then one morning, he awoke and his wife told him he was completely yellow — not from the sun streaming into the bedroom, but from jaundice. So Hoffman reported to the emergency room at the Veterans Administration medical center in Sturgis, S.D.

“Doctor comes in and gives us the news: ‘You have pancreatic cancer. You’ve got six months to live. Get your stuff together,’” says Hoffman. “What do you do?”

What his doctors did, in fact, was to send Hoffman to Mayo Clinic, where he met Mark Truty, M.D., a surgical oncologist, who is rewriting the protocol for treating pancreatic cancer with notable success. Dr. Truty started Hoffman on chemotherapy right away, followed by radiation, and a difficult 10-hour surgery. Then came more chemo. Read the rest of this article on Discovery's Edge.
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