Marv Katz's daughter diagnosed with cancer

An email from former BJ staffer Marv Katz:


Dear friends and family,

Some of you already know this, but there's no easy way to tell the rest:  Our daughter Lisa has been diagnosed with gallbladder cancer, a rare and tricky-to-treat form.

As you may know, Lisa got married last summer and quit her job at UNC-Chapel Hill to move to Fort Leavenworth, Kans., where her husband, Major Thomas Pagel, is taking a course at the Army's Command and General Staff College.  She'd been experiencing pain and discomfort from gallstones, and had her gallbladder removed several weeks ago.  A pathology examination of the gallbladder showed it to be cancerous.

Lisa subsequently underwent an MRI and a PET scan last week, which showed the cancer had spread to her liver and to lymph nodes near her aorta.

She and Thomas are flying late this afternoon to Houston, where Lisa has an appointment Wednesday morning with a specialist at the renowned M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.  She has been told to plan on staying in Houston until Friday.  Her oncologist in Kansas City and a friend on the staff of UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill helped make the process move quickly and smoothly.

Still to be determined is whether Lisa will undergo surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy or a combination.

Lisa is in good spirits, as is Thomas, though he is recovering from reconstructive ankle surgery two weeks ago and is getting around on crutches.  Both of them are determined to fight the cancer every way they can.

To keep folks up to date on Lisa's journey and Thomas'  recovery without consuming large amounts of time for them and others, they've created a CaringBridge Website, where they will be keeping a journal.

You can visit their CaringBridge Website in either of two easy ways:
    1. Click on this link:  http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lisathomaspagel
or
    2.  Go to www.caringbridge.org and enter their Website name:  lisathomaspagel.

When  you visit you’ll be asked to identify yourself, set up a password and log in, because they’ve chosen to  keep the site private. That said, if you know of someone you think they might have missed who'd want to be a part of their CaringBridge community,  please feel free to loop him or her in.

You can show them support by:
• Visiting the site and keeping yourself up to date.
• Leaving a message in their guestbook on the site.
• Agreeing on the site to receive e-mail notifications when their journal is updated.

Obviously, this is a stressful and heartbreaking development for all of us.  Your prayers and your support would be most welcome.  And if you wish to contact Joyce or me, please feel free to do so.

Sincerely,
Marv