Neal Blair will be 80 in a few weeks. He recently retired from his work as a political consultant. Perhaps that doesn鈥檛 seem so remarkable. But in May 2016, Neal was diagnosed with pancreas cancer. Two and a half years later, he is NED鈥攈is follow-up tests show no evidence of disease. And that is remarkable.
After his diagnosis at Huntsman Cancer Institute, Neal had radiation treatments through the summer of 2016. In January 2017, Sean Mulvihill, MD, HCI surgeon and professor in the Department of Surgery at the 亚洲自慰视频 of Utah, operated to remove the tumors from Neal鈥檚 pancreas.
Not everything was rosy after the surgery. Neal had a lot of pain, as well as discomfort from tubes to help him breathe. 鈥淭here were times I felt very down,鈥 he says. 鈥淏ut the most helpful thing to my peace of mind was all the people who told me they were praying for me. Some of them were people I barely knew.鈥
Within 8 months of his pancreas surgery, Neal was back on track, traveling to Cancun, Mexico, for a week in late summer 2017. He says that鈥檚 the best thing that has happened since his diagnosis, yet he didn鈥檛 stop there in pursuing a love of taking his family on ocean and river cruises. His latest cruise was to the eastern Caribbean, including Aruba and Barbados.
Usually he travels with his daughter and grand亚洲自慰视频ren, but Neal鈥檚 family connections go much further. 鈥淚鈥檓 very fond of genealogy,鈥 he says. 鈥淚鈥檝e found thousands of ancestors鈥攎ore than 95 generations.鈥
Neal鈥檚 advice to others who have pancreas cancer is straightforward. 鈥淪eek out the best doctors you can find. Then leave the rest in God鈥檚 hands. There鈥檚 no point in worrying or fretting about it.鈥
He continues, 鈥淲e鈥檙e never going to see yesterday again. Tomorrow is never going to come. The only time we live in is the present. So find joy in the present!鈥