The diagnosis of a serious illness or condition can be devastating to an individual, as well as their family members and friends. After experiencing lower back pain and a general lack of energy, Larchwood resident Cheryl Metzger visited her physician. A CT scan performed the following day revealed a mass that had developed over her pancreas. This warranted a pancreatic biopsy which lead to the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer on October 23, 2007. Cheryl was encouraged to see a gastroenterologist at Mayo clinic, who informed her on October 26, 2007 that her tumor was inoperable. An oncologist agreed with the initial prognosis, and also informed Cheryl that while the cancer had not spread to any other organs, it did have lymph node involvement. With that information, Cheryl and her husband Mike returned home to begin treatments of chemotherapy.

Cheryl’s chemotherapy treatments are scheduled to be given for three weeks, and the fourth week she rests. In November, lab work indicated her white blood count was low, and she received an injection of Neulasta to bring the level up again so that she could follow her chemotherapy schedule. At the same time, Cheryl’s face reacted to her oral chemo by breaking out with acne, and she chuckles that it is worse now then when she was young. While acne is not something people usually embrace, breakouts are sign that the medication is doing its job. In November, Cheryl also had difficulty sleeping and was prescribed medication to help her achieve the rest she needed. The Metzgers began to work on obtaining a referral for CyberKnife Surgery at Joseph’s Hospital in St. Paul.

The CyberKnife system combines radiation with robotics. While conventional radiation is very linear in delivery, the robotic mounting allows radiation to be delivered from many different directions. At the same time, the CyberKnife system uses technology called Synchrony with tumors that in are motion, including lung and pancreatic cancer. Fiducials, or light emitting optical markers are used to determine movement, thus greatly reducing the amount of x-rays used by the medical team to monitor the location and size of the tumor. In turn, the patient isn’t exposed to additional amounts of radiation. CyberKnife also provides additional flexibility in radiation treatment. It can re-treat the same patient without repeating the preparation steps that accompany traditional radiation treatments. This is encouraging, as tumor cells usually lack the ability to repair themselves quickly. Dividing radiation dosage into smaller increments still has the intended adverse effects on cancer cells, and gives healthy tissue the time it needs to repair itself between treatments. Unfortunately, Joseph’s Hospital is listed as an "out of network" provider with Cheryl’s insurance company. Yet, she and Mike continue to persevere. In December, Cheryl’s chemotherapy schedule was altered as her white blood count was too low and even with injections of Neulasta, she would need to rest to make the count increase. Her medical team feels that it is too soon to do radiation at this time, and will continue chemotherapy as long as the results are positive. As Cheryl’s back pain is almost gone, and she has maintained her weight, she and her family are told that these are good signs.