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Sean Kellman
Written By: Julia Brabant, January 2025For Sean Kellman, Pancreatic Cancer Caregiving Meant “Getting Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable”
“Being a loved one – whether a spouse, parent, child, or friend – to someone with a pancreatic cancer diagnosis is an awful experience. Much of the information you find online, and even some of what you hear from doctors, may often seem hopeless. But that’s far from true, as we have seen from Patrick’s journey below. When the right treatment and support are in place, there is hope. My desire for this article is to stimulate hope and curiosity for those caregivers who get a chance to read it. It’s intended to shift the paradigm that there is hope, even in the toughest times. It’s a tough journey, but not hopeless.”
-Sean
At this point, all your plans you’ve made are instantly stopped, and survival becomes the main focus
While people with pancreas cancer often draw the focus of family, friends and medical professionals, caregivers take more of a backseat despite carrying an emotional and physical burden of their own. For Sean Kellman, stepping into the caregiver role felt natural; an act of compassion, patience and endurance that pushed him out of his comfort zone and into a position of strength, vulnerability and active advocacy for others.
Sean’s caregiving journey began in 2017, when ongoing abdominal and back pain sent his close friend Patrick to the hospital for testing. An ultrasound and scan revealed a suspicious mass on the head of Patrick’s pancreas. Patrick, a physician, himself, had a pretty good idea of what that could mean but wanted to eliminate what was potentially the worst-case scenario: a diagnosis of pancreas cancer.
Navigating an Unexpected Diagnosis
Unfortunately, Patrick’s worst fears became a reality after a biopsy confirmed a pancreas cancer diagnosis. Patrick’s care team recommended he undergo a Whipple procedure, a complex abdominal operation used to remove the cancer and several organs. His doctors wanted him to have the procedure within 10 days and then follow it up with six months of adjuvant chemotherapy. While the surgery was
initially successful, the cancer came back in 2019, and his care team gave him 12 months to live.
“At this point, all your plans you’ve made are instantly stopped, and survival becomes the main focus,” Sean said, of watching Patrick’s plight. “Nothing else seems to matter.”
Exploring Treatment Options
At this juncture, Sean reached out to Natalie Sabga, a resident of Trinidad & Tobago and a former classmate of his. Natalie founded the John E. Sabga Foundation, a non-profit organization she named after her late husband after losing him to pancreatic cancer in January 2017. Natalie connected Patrick to Dr. Erkut Borazanci, an oncologist with the HonorHealth Research Institute in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Providing a new perspective on Patrick’s case, Dr. Borazanci, or Dr. “B,” recommended Patrick undergo radiation therapy, a treatment not previously suggested by Patrick’s original care team after his second round of adjuvant chemotherapy was not working and Patrick’s health was in a downward spiral. Because Patrick’s cancer was localized, meaning it hadn’t yet spread to other parts of the body or lymph nodes, he was a good candidate for radiotherapy.
Patrick completed the radiation protocol and then started taking an oral maintenance form of chemotherapy to help prevent a potential recurrence. Now, about four years in, Patrick continues to take the oral form of chemotherapy, and he also feels renewed hope for the future.
He and Sean have also become increasingly involved in the global pancreatic cancer community, attending events alongside other patients and caregivers, including the Seena Magowitz Foundation’s annual “Power of Us” fundraisers in 2023 and 2024.
There, they met close to 100 other people living with pancreatic cancer, many of whom had surpassed the 5-, 10-, 20- and even 30-year survival marks.
“I knew from reading that there had been a number of people with pancreas cancer who had survived multiple years,” Sean said, listing former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg among them. “So, I knew it was possible if you got the right care. It wasn’t until August of 2023, when I attended the Seena Magowitz Foundation’s event in Milwaukee and met survivors diagnosed 20 and 30 years before that I saw that number of survivors in one location. Before attending this event, I did not realize it was possible to survive long-term with a pancreas cancer diagnosis.”
Inspiring Others
Inspired, Sean decided to share his own story with the crowd at the following year’s edition of Power of Us, offering up insights he learned from his own experiences caring for someone with pancreas cancer. His speech at the event, and his subsequent conversations with cancer survivors and their caregivers, shared several common themes. One such theme was the fact that real, legitimate medical advances are taking place all the time in the global battle against the disease.
“I thought, if we can figure out a way for Patrick to stay alive, there are significant medical advances on
their way,” Sean said. “If you can stay alive, the treatment in one, two- or three-years’ time will look a lot different than it looks today. So, we have to figure out how to survive until that treatment is developed.”
While there is currently no cure for pancreas cancer, Sean feels hopeful for the future, due in large part to some of the new treatment options and care techniques that have emerged and advanced in recent years. For example, many medical teams now focus on shrinking tumors prior to surgery through chemotherapy, radiation or both, which can make previously inoperable tumors eligible for removal.
Oncologists are also developing a better understanding of the patient’s overall health to ensure a more comprehensive and collaborative approach to treatment. The number of clinical trials focusing on pancreatic cancer is also increasing, creating more opportunities for researchers to explore the safety and efficacy of innovative treatments and therapies that can extend and enhance patient lives.
Sean also sees positive advancements in terms of radiation, with doctors now using targeted radiation therapy to raise the chances of successful outcomes. He also feels encouraged by advancements involving individualized treatments, where care teams study individual tumors in labs and then develop precise, personalized treatments to attack cancer cells more effectively.
Keeping Hope Alive
In addition to spreading the word about new and emerging treatment options, Sean also encourages other people fighting health challenges to make sure they have something to look forward to during their treatments, like seeing their kids celebrate another birthday, meeting their grandkids, spending time with family, exploring places they never had time to explore, or experiencing other meaningful events or goals that bring them joy and motivation. In Patrick’s case, he’d take periodic trips from London to Cape Town, South Africa, giving him something to look forward to every three or four weeks while receiving treatment.
One of Sean’s other key learnings after talking with long-term survivors is that each of them took ownership of their own health care decisions, becoming their own strongest advocates with the help and support of their caregivers.
Sean also stresses the fact that any journey with pancreas cancer will involve inevitable highs and lows.
“Pancreas cancer is not a linear journey,” Sean said. “There will be bumps in the road. But what I learned consistently talking with long-term survivors is that, if there’s some bad news on a test result, or some test results that show a spot in the liver, that isn’t necessarily the end. A number of people are able to get through those difficult times and go on to live lives where they not only survive, but thrive.”
Supporting Other Caregivers
Sean also serves as a sounding board for other caregivers, many of whom struggle to balance their caregiving duties with other professional and familial obligations. He notes just how difficult it can be to manage one’s own emotions while simultaneously caring for someone in such a vulnerable state.
“The hardest part for me was learning to get comfortable with being uncomfortable,” Sean said. “Being a caregiver is incredibly isolating, because you believe you’re the only one going through this journey – but it’s not true. There are fantastic resources and caregivers who are happy to share their journeys and lessons; their encouragement and love in a safe place. I believe that foundations like the Seena Magowitz Foundation and the John E. Sabga foundation provide hope, guidance, love and support, and this is something I wish I knew existed in the first five years of being a caregiver. It’s a safe place to learn from each other.”
Embracing a Brighter Future
Finally, Sean wants people receiving treatment for pancreas cancer, or caring for someone with the condition, to recognize that the future is looking brighter than it ever has, and that advances in trials provide a bright future.
“Even though we aren’t there today, pancreas cancer is heading in the direction of a chronic disease for some people who are diagnosed on time and get the correct medical treatment,” he said.
As for Patrick, he continues to defy the initial prognosis he received in 2019, living a happy life that includes quality time with his family, kids and friends, an active social calendar and plenty of exercise, which both he and Sean believe plays a key role in helping people beat cancer. He and Sean also continue to regularly engage with the pancreatic cancer community, sharing their story with other survivors and caregivers to inspire hope and encourage resilience.
“Patrick is doing great; he’s managing the side effects of the ongoing maintenance chemotherapy and living a fulfilled life. This experience has left me feeling like a turtle who’s been run over by a car. After the initial blow, it’s been calm for a long time, and it’s just now starting to feel safe to stick your head out and say you’re in a safe spot,” Sean said. “Now, seven years later, it’s safe to plan ahead again. And the plan is different from the initial somber outcome that was given to us! It’s great to be optimistic again, that’s a feeling I haven’t had in seven years.”
