One Half of One Percent

Dr. David Slavin

In September 2017, Dr. David Slavin, then a 54-year-old Chiropractor from Long Island, started experiencing stomach pain and just didn’t feel right, and he feared the worst. His maternal grandmother and his paternal grandparents passed away from pancreatic cancer and, despite no inheritable genetic mutations identified that would’ve increased his risk of getting the disease, he was terrified of a similar fate. 

He immediately saw his gastroenterologist, who ordered multiple tests. “I was alone in my office reading the test results, and my entire world crumbled when I saw the diagnosis: stage 4 pancreatic cancer that had metastasized to my liver, shoulder blade, and pelvis,” David remembers. “I was used to being the caregiver for everyone else, and I couldn’t focus on myself. I just kept thinking about having to tell my wife and our children, and how devastating this diagnosis would be for them.” At the time, David’s daughter, Hunter, was a first-year college student, and his son, Cooper, was in high school.

David’s medical team at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center prescribed a rigorous course of chemotherapy consisting of 5FU and irinotecan and remained reassuring, positive, and hopeful throughout his treatment. He was relieved that his only side effects from the chemotherapy were foot neuropathy and fatigue. However, at one point the fatigue was so intense that he had to stop working.

When David started chemotherapy, his CA 19-9, which serves as a pancreatic cancer tumor marker in the blood, was 44,000; normal is considered 0-37 units per milliliter. Two months after chemotherapy began, his CA 19-9 dropped to 11,000 and then continued to decrease significantly after every chemotherapy treatment. “I’m in that one half of one percent that responds so well to chemotherapy,”David shared, grateful for, and humbled by, this bright spot in a such a life-changing diagnosis.

“While I was first going through treatment, I got the phone number of someone a couple of years older than me who was also a pancreatic cancer patient and who had gone through a complicated Whipple surgery. It helped me to learn that I wasn’t alone in confronting this disease,” David recalls. “Today, I get so much personal joy from sharing my story and giving hope to other patients and their families.” 

Now, seven years since his diagnosis, David is incredibly thankful to be a survivor. He still considers getting treatment for pancreatic cancer his most important job and plans his life around it. He accepts that it’s his “new normal” to have one difficult week while receiving therapy, followed by two better weeks off therapy. He is back to treating his Chiropractic patients three days a week and experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen—a hobby that his family absolutely appreciates. Most importantly, his CA 19-9 levels are within normal limits, and he currently has no evidence of disease. “There was nothing better than hearing the doctor call my pancreas ‘unremarkable’ on my most recent scan!”

“I want to have an impact on patients’ treatment plans in 20 years, and I want all patients to know there is hope for not just surviving, but thriving, like I am,” David affirms. That’s why when Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center asks for permission to take extra blood for research during his scheduled blood draws, he always consents. He hopes that an analysis of his bloodwork will point to new directions in research and that scientists can apply their learnings to help even more patients achieve a similar life-saving response to chemotherapy.

Years before he had pancreatic cancer, David had heard of the Lustgarten Foundation through a few of his patients, who worked for Cablevision Systems Corporation. Cablevision had helped establish the Lustgarten Foundation in memory of Marc Lustgarten, a Cablevision executive who passed away from the disease. He was also interested in the Foundation’s research efforts, given the history of pancreatic cancer on both sides of his family. His team—Slavin Strong—has been a fixture at the Long Island Walk for Pancreatic Cancer Research for the past three years, and every year family, friends, and even some of his patients participate to honor and celebrate him, living by the motto on their team t-shirts: In this family no one fights alone.

“My favorite part of the Walk is seeing familiar faces, year after year, and it’s been so encouraging to meet other survivors, including some who are 15 and 17 years out from diagnosis.” In fact, one year David was a featured speaker at the Walk, inspiring thousands of Long Islanders in the pancreatic cancer community with his story. He has raised close to $15,000 for the Foundation’s research program to date, from the Walks and from softball tournaments and other fundraisers his closest friends have organized on his behalf. He credits Rachel, his wife of 27 years, with being his fearless advocate. She has handled his disease and the constant, selfless challenges of being a caregiver with determination, strength, and grace.

When David was first diagnosed, he didn’t know how many more life milestones he would celebrate with his family. He has since seen his son graduate from college and start a successful career in Manhattan. Following his diagnosis, he also could not stop thinking about his daughter and how much he wanted and needed to be there to walk her down the aisle and share a father-daughter dance at her wedding one day. Now, David’s daughter is engaged and getting married next fall, and he already has his speech prepared! He has faith that his days of survivorship will continue, thanks to the love and support of his devoted family and friends and the cutting-edge pancreatic cancer research organizations like the Lustgarten Foundation are spearheading. “Thank you to the donors who do so much so selflessly for the benefit of everyone impacted by pancreatic cancer. Patients and survivors like me wouldn’t be where we are in fighting this disease if it wasn’t for their continued generosity.”