My old classmate, the ex-CIA Deputy Director, whom I've gone on several 'photo safari' road trips with over the years just let us all know that he's been diagnosed with stage 4 Pancreatic cancer that has already metastasized to his lungs, liver and kidney. He's been give 3-8 weeks to live. He's going to forgo all treatment and will stay at home to die with his family close by.
He said he got a clean bill of health at his annual physical in early November, but after a trip to Thailand in late December (he goes on scuba diving trips a couple times a year) he said he never really felt good and just blamed it on some bug until about a month ago when he started to get really bad stomach pains. His doctor did some initial tests and then put him in the hospital for a couple of days of more tests. He just got the final diagnosis and the prognosis today.
He's a year younger than me, never smoked but did enjoy his beer.
Anyway, it's a hard blow, but I had been expecting it since we've been in contact for the last few months as we were already planning another road trip for April of next year. He had told me about the stomach pain and that the doctors were concerned that it was something more serious. I told him about my Gall Bladder attacks from a couple of years ago and my eventual surgery to remove it, but he said the doctor had ruled that out right off the bat.
If it weren't for the COVID-19 issue, I might have flown back to Virginia to see him, but that's just not possible now.
| 
