
ROBERT JANCAR: PANCREATIC CANCER WARRIOR
Always Get A Second Opinion. I Did. It Was With Dr. Douglas B. Evans
February 2022
Diagnosed: Spring of 2012
Status: No sign of Pancreatic Cancer
My world turned upside down in the spring of 2012. Up until then I was an active retiree and outdoorsman living in the mountains of southwest Colorado. Then after a series of visits to medical specialists to help explain some strange health symptoms, I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Not knowing anything about this disease, my daughter immediately jumped in to help me do research. We were devastated to find out that the 5-year survival rate was only 6%, and only if I qualified for the Whipple Surgery. From there, my daughter did an exhaustive internet search to find an experienced and highly rated surgeon who performed at least 30 of these complicated surgeries a year.
A little of my background will better explain one important reason for my selection of Dr. Douglas Evans and MCW. I retired as a manufacturing executive with a large medical products company. Back in the early 1980’s, I helped start up a manufacturing plant that focused on the then, very new, concept of organizing our production employees in small teams and letting the teams participate in making decisions that would impact product quality, productivity and team harmony. This approach proved very successful by all measurements of product quality, costs and employee morale.
I truly believe that MCW’s use of the team approach along with the individual skills of their team members in serving their pancreatic cancer patients is the reason I am where I am, almost 10 years after my diagnosis. Since my surgery, I have archery hunted big game in Africa, chartered sailboats off Thailand, Australia and Croatia, fished the remote Amazon river and many more outdoor adventures.
Thanks to you Dr. Evans and your team at MCW.
I can’t end my story without a special thanks to my special advocates, my daughter Leanna and my wife Carol, whose efforts on my behalf picked me up when I was at my lowest and guided me to where I am today. I love you ❤