ACADEMICS Wegmans School of Pharmacy
“Team Scott” supports dean’s fight
He thought hearing the words, “You have diabetes,” would be the scariest words he would ever hear, not knowing that just eight months later, he’d hear three even scarier words: “You have cancer.” Dr. Scott Swigart, Dean of the Wegmans School of Pharmacy, was shocked when he was diagnosed with diabetes because he followed a low-carb diet. But, his mother was a type-2 diabetic. “It really perplexed me,” he said. “Unfortunately, you can’t beat genetics.” So, he listened to his doctor and put on his pharmacist hat, and immediately started drug therapy, which included two commonly used drugs. His daughter, Kimberly, a 2011 graduate of the School of Pharmacy and practicing pharmacist in Seattle, Washington, convinced him to start another treatment—losing weight. He started to exercise and eat even fewer carbs. In a short period of time, he lost about 20 pounds, and he was managing his new burden. He then began to experience back pain so bad that he wasn’t able to sleep. A CT scan ruled out pancreatitis, but when the pain landed him in the emergency room at Strong Memorial Hospital, an ultrasound and another CT scan revealed the devastating news. “There’s a mass on your pancreas.” Being a health care professional, Swigart knew what that probably meant. But, the next step was a biopsy to see if it was in fact cancer. Shortly thereafter, he was diagnosed with locally advanced adenocarcinoma of the pancreas, the most common and aggressive pancreatic cancer. The good news was that the rest of his body was cancer free. But, because of how advanced his cancer was and the fact that major vessels were involved, the bad news was that surgery was not an option. “This kind of cancer doesn’t have a good track record. It’s not a good cancer to have, but the goal is to get to surgery,” he said. Starting in July, he entered into an intensive nineweek chemotherapy treatment, receiving chemo at the University of Rochester’s Wilmot Cancer Center every other Wednesday. The goal of the treatment was to shrink the tumor, in an effort to bring the possibility of surgery closer in sight.
After that course of treatment, he went for another CT scan. The news he received was not what he wanted to hear, but did offer some hope. The tumor had shrunk a small amount, but not enough for surgery. “My oncologist was ecstatic because it hadn’t metastasized, but I was depressed,” said Swigart. In the middle of starting a second course of treatment, Swigart traveled to Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital to get a second opinion. There, he met with a team of specialists, including a pancreatic oncologist, medical oncologist, radiologist, and pancreatic surgeon. They told him that, with more treatment and a couple of other stumbling blocks he’d have to leap over, they were confident they could do the surgery. He will continue his current treatment course, more CT scans, and an intense 5½ week regimen of chemotherapy and radiation before he is able to get the green light to surgery. But, he remains optimistic. “I have hope in my horizon. I’m a happy man, I have a plan,” said Swigart, with a smile. “I was dealt a crappy hand, but I have to play it, and I think I’m playing it okay.” His doctor is confident that, because Swigart has physically handled the treatments as well as he has, he will beat the typical track record. Swigart also said he has confidence in the recent research on pancreatic cancer, and thinks it will work to his benefit. And the strong show of support at Fisher has helped. The School of Pharmacy has rallied campus— and alumni from across the country—by wearing purple “Team Swigart” buttons and bracelets, and holding fundraisers to support pancreatic cancer research. Recently, a group from the School of Pharmacy participated in a walk to benefit the Pancreatic Cancer Association of WNY. Swigart was walking, too, front and center. Faculty from the Wegmans School of Nursing have sent him ice cream and the makings for milkshakes
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1/22/14 9:34 AM