A few final points for this chapter:
- From the date of my first CT-scan in January 2015, I let both my department chairperson and the dean of the Zarb School of Business at Hofstra University know what was going on with me. And I started getting information from the human resources department as well as preparing the required forms for my anticipated sick leave.
- At Hofstra University, our spring semester starts at the end of January. So, I began teaching my undergraduate and graduate classes without knowing when I would have my surgery and how long I would be out.
- I contacted a couple of colleagues who graciously agreed to cover my classes at the time that I needed them. Yet, I did not tell my students that I would miss significant time that semester until the Monday before my surgery. I did not want them to be uncertain about what they faced that semester. My colleagues Andy and Donna did a fabulous job with the classes. Bravo to them.
- By far the worst thing that I did during the lead up to my Whipple surgery was to go online to read too much about it. It was frightening enough to learn what I could on pancreatic cancer and its far-reaching consequences. But looking at a gruesome (to me) online video on YouTube about the Whipple surgery could have been THE single dumbest thing that I have ever done in my entire life. Why would I look at a video that was so gory in detail as to what I would go through? Yes, sometimes, ignorance is bliss!!!
