Last May, Robert Childs, an instructor in the Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences department at the University of Massachusetts, was diagnosed with the most aggressive form of pancreatic cancer.

When he received the phone call from his doctor, telling him the biopsy of his tumor was malignant, Childs was about to teach a workshop in Martha’s Vineyard.

The call didn’t stop him.

“The most important thing I could have done at that time was to do something normal, because I love teaching,” Childs said. “It was a very serious diagnosis. Most people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer don’t live for more than a year.”

According to the John Hopkins Pathology Web site, cancer of the pancreas strikes approximately five out of 100,000 people every year and is one of the deadliest forms of cancer.

The National Cancer Institute estimated that in 2007, there will be 37,170 new cases of pancreatic cancer, of which 33,370 cases will result in death, as shown on their Web site.

Childs is not a part of that figure. Because of his immediate treatment and early detection of the tumor, he is now in remission and hopes he will someday be completely cancer-free.

“Surprisingly, for me, I was pretty cool about it,” explained the instructor. “To this day, I have never really been upset about it for myself. I have never had a pity party. All I could think about were my kids and my wife.”

After the diagnosis, Childs went in for surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston on May 30. What was supposed to be a three-hour procedure turned into a seven and a half hour surgery. Doctors originally believed that the cancer was in the tail end of Childs’ pancreas, but later found that it moved throughout his pancreas. He had his entire pancreas and spleen removed.

While in the hospital recovering from the operation, Childs learned the power of “get well” cards. He was receiving 15 to 20 cards a day from friends, former students and colleagues. He’s since received over 350 cards from hundreds of “well wishers,” he said.

A month after healing from the surgery, Childs went through four months of chemotherapy. Every week he traveled 110 miles from Conway to Boston, to receive treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital. After a two-week break, he began daily treatments of chemotherapy and radiation, 24 hours a day, five days a week, for six weeks.

When he began his daily treatments, Childs created a list of about 50 or 60 people that he could ask for rides to Boston.

“At first I didn’t want to ask people, but people really feel like they want to do something,” he said. “People feel helpless, so to do anything is good. Everyday I rode with someone different, and we had the greatest conversations. I was actually looking forward to someone taking me to Boston for those horrible treatments. It was a total surprise and a gift.”

His treatments lasted from July to mid-December.

“I felt like an eighteen wheeler was parked on me. I was really exhausted,” Childs explained. “The [doctors] told me it would be about a month before I felt back to normal, and six months to a year before I would feel 100 percent again.

“I am strong enough to be teaching and I am fortunate to have some great teaching assistants, which are helping out with my six lab sections. There is no way that I could do it all, right now,” he said.

Childs returned to UMass on Jan. 29 to teach this semester. He instructs Insects in Related Forms and Principles of Pesticide Management, and will teach Insects of Ornamentals in the fall.

“I can’t believe that I’m back doing what I love,” he said. Childs explained that one of the biggest challenges he faces is taking things slowly and being kind to himself.

Childs has been an instructor at UMass since 1981. He also received his undergraduate and masters degree from the university. In addition he does outreach teaching for the UMass Landscape, Nursery and Urban Forestry Extension program – his specialty area being insects that attack trees and shrubs. His outreach teaching generally consists of 30 or more talks around the Northeast to arborists, landscapers, nursery managers, town foresters and tree wardens about the green industry.

He said he wanted to come back to UMass this semester because, “I love my job, it is one of those things that makes me feel human.”

Since his diagnosis he has found himself no longer fretting over the little things that he used to worry about; he no longer stresses over the little things, which he said he hopes lasts.

“I have always been a guy who stopped and smelled the roses along the way, but these days roses never smelled so good,” he said.

It was only two weeks ago that Childs really began to feel good for the first time in eight months.

“I had forgotten what it felt like, to feel good. I was surviving everyday. I was focused on my treatments. That was my life,” he said.

Childs, although in remission, is still in recovery. The removal of his pancreas has caused him to have, “full blown” diabetes.

“It’s not like cancer – I can deal with it, but it is frustrating at times” he said. He will be diabetic for the rest of his life but is able to control his blood sugar levels through his diet and a computerized insulin pump, which is connected to him through a site on his body.

His doctors say his chances of survival are 60 percent, which he says is about as high as it gets with pancreatic cancer.

“My wife and I were never so happy to hear 60 percent; it sounded like 100. If I had been farther along with the illness before they found it, I would have been within a five to 10 percent survivability,” he said.

After Christmas, Childs saw a billboard on the side of the highway in North Adams, which stated that in 2006 over 33,000 Americans were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and last year over 32,000 Americans died.

“I have never seen an awareness billboard about pancreatic cancer. It was surreal. I am in a very rare group,” he said.

About a year ago Childs became very sick with a stomach virus leading him to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with pancreatitis. After a CAT scan, doctors found a pseudocyst on the tail of his pancreas. Childs discovered that he had two ducts in his pancreas (most people only have one, which increased his chances for getting pancreatic cancer).

“I still have a long way to go,” he said. “People who have the kind of procedure that I have, which is called a Whipple, usually have a 20 percent chance of surviving, and we are hoping for much more than that. If the cancer comes back, it will be much harder to deal with and treat this time.”

After five years, if the cancer does not return, Childs will be put back into the general population for longevity.

He says he will make it.

“One of the most amazing things with this whole process is that I have had this thing called hope,” he said. Hope and love have carried him through this experience.

“The human element and the love have been amazing. The love has been unbelievable, I have been overwhelmed by it,” he said. After his surgery his wife drove to see him everyday in the hospital for three weeks.

Throughout this experience Childs has realized that he has accomplished a lot in his life.

“I was able to be at my own memorial service throughout this. I have got to hear what people think of me, the kind of impact that I have had on them. I have touched many lives,” he said.

Childs is hoping to be able to continue to be “Dad” to his two children.

“My father died when I was eight years old, so I think I have always had an extra sense about what its like not to have a dad influence as you grow up. It is a thing that really haunted me throughout the illness,” he said.

He said his family was the rock that carried him through the experience.

“There were days where I was so sick, where my feeling was, if this is what life is g
oing to be like I am not sure that I am interested in going forward with this. It was my family that gave me something to hold onto. I am an incredibly lucky person,” Childs said.

A positive person, Childs was upbeat throughout his illness and also about teaching.

“My favorite expression is ‘old dog, new trick.’ I love learning. If you are in my class, and you really want to learn about bugs, you are going to learn about bugs,” he said. “And we are going to have fun with it, because if you don’t have fun with it, why get out of bed in the morning.”

Childs would like the opportunity to thank his family, friends, colleagues and the university for the support and help during his illness. He is grateful to Deborah Swanson, John McLan, Liz Wiernasz, Kathy Conway, Gail Shoeman, Craig Hollingsworth, Bill Coli, Bill Graves, and many others.

Jamie Mason can be reached at [email protected].