Dusty’s Story: How Resilience, Strength and a Henry Ford Surgeon Spells Success in the Fight Against Pancreatic Cancer

By all accounts, Dusty Mysen has had good fortune in his upbringing, including his personal and professional life. Born in Muskegon, Michigan close to the shores of Lake Michigan, Dusty grew up with loving parents and a brother while competing in a variety of sports. He describes his college experience as a blessed one where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1995 while meeting life-long friends. His degree allowed him to embark on a successful career in the automotive industry while providing for the love of his life Katie and their four children.

“Being an active family, I’ve loved watching my kids grow and chase them around while they played sports and do all their activities. I really couldn’t have asked for anything better,” he says.

A turning point in 2020

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dusty who was 46 at the time, transitioned to working from home. “I’ve always been a glass half- full guy so given my long commute to work, I was thankful for the opportunity to work from home giving me more free time to be with my family and work out more,” he says. In the spring of 2020, Dusty began experiencing abdominal pain which he attributed to a pulled muscle. When the pain did not subside, he saw his primary care doctor who suspected an issue with his gallbladder. “My gallbladder was not functioning, so I had laparoscopic surgery to remove it,” he notes.

Dusty was told he should be back in action and could resume working out in a couple of weeks but instead of getting better, he was getting worse.

“I got really sick, was in significant pain and couldn't sleep,” her remembers. His wife Katie, a nurse practitioner, said he looked jaundice and yellow, so they went to the ER where Dusty says the staff determined his liver was leaking bile. As serious as the situation seemed to be at the time, Dusty says in a way he felt fortunate. “Ultimately the gallbladder issue was a symptom of a much more serious issue that I would not have known about it if it weren’t for the gallbladder symptoms.”

From a picture of health to the words no one wants to hear

After receiving a scan, doctors recommended a biopsy of the pancreas to determine what may be causing Dusty’s medical issues. Due to his young age and general good health, Dusty says he went into the biopsy assuming that it was going to come back not cancerous. But when he woke up, still groggy from the anesthesia at the local hospital, the surgeon gave him the devastating news that would change his life forever. “I was all alone and out of nowhere the biopsy surgeon is standing over me and says I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this but you have pancreatic cancer. I don't believe we can operate on it and there's not much we can do and with that he pretty much walked away.” Dusty says the same news was delivered to his wife in an unempathetic way. As they cried together and were told to get his affairs together, Dusty expresses it was the lowest point in his life.

How faith and fitness became central to Dusty’s journey

Even though Dusty did not grow up attending church on a regular basis, he credits scripture with spearheading a positive attitude as he embarked on the fight for his life. “The verse that kept popping in my head pointed me to the realization that it’s God’s plan and out of my hands. As someone who likes to control everything, I realized I could control getting the negative thoughts out of my head and change my mental state from the lowest of the low to slowly come out of the valley and get into the fight.”

As Dusty endured chemotherapy and radiation for a two-year period, he made it a priority to continue to live life to the fullest extent possible. “There were days that I didn’t have the strength to do much, but I focused on fighting through and still worked out regularly, went to sporting events, worked full time and enjoyed hanging out with my family and friends.”

When initial complex surgical procedure fails, new hope is restored at Henry Ford Health

Determined to do everything in his power to beat the odds of surviving pancreatic cancer, Dusty met with a local surgeon who attempted to perform the Whipple procedure, a highly complex surgery to remove tumors in the pancreas. The extremely difficult operation entails removal of the pancreas head, the bile duct, small intestine, and part of the stomach, and reconstruction of a large part of the gastrointestinal tract. While the surgery offers the best chance for long-term survival of pancreatic cancer, eligibility is limited. Despite testing before surgery, the surgeon may find during the procedure that the cancer has spread or cannot be removed due to the difficult nature of the surgery. Unfortunately, that was the case for Dusty.

“The surgeon attempted to do the procedure in 2021 but couldn’t complete the procedure due to potential damage of important blood vessels so he told me it was a one and done opportunity and he did not recommend that anyone else try it again.”

After consulting with a few additional surgeons with the same opinion, Dusty said his search to maximize his chance of survival would continue. “I wasn't yet fifty at that time and had four children between the ages of eight and twenty-two and an amazing wife - all whom I wasn't willing to leave without a fight.” His search led him to David Kwon, M.D. a surgical oncologist at Henry Ford Health with extensive expertise in pancreatic tumor surgery.

Dusty expressed the meeting with Dr. Kwon provided the hope he needed despite not sugar coating what the outcome may be. “Dr. Kwon was honest with me and told me it would be a very challenging and long surgery and there was likely less than a 50% chance of success, but that he was willing to try if I wanted to proceed.”

He says he had faith and trust in Dr. Kwon from the very first moment he met him. “His reputation as an expert surgeon was the baseline, but his incredible bedside manner and strong, friendly personality made me feel he was the perfect surgeon for me from day one.”

Defying the odds with the second Whipple procedure

After meeting with Dr. Kwon, Dusty weighed his options and went with his gut to proceed with the second attempt of the Whipple procedure. Dr. Kwon says it was an honor to meet with Dusty who expressed his desire to fight for his wife and family. The 13-hour surgical procedure was a calculated risk but one that gave Dusty the hope he was looking for.

“This surgery is very extensive, requiring the removal of multiple organs,” explains Dr. Kwon. He adds that the tumor is often located very close or adjacent to blood vessels that can cause life-threatening bleeding, making an extremely difficult surgery even more complex with concerns for significant blood loss. “In Mr. Mysen’s situation, with fastidious attention to the anatomy in relation to the tumor, we were able to remove the tumor successfully.”

Dr. Kwon emphasized the reason he was willing to fight with Dusty was because he was not only fighting for himself, but for the opportunity to have more time with his wife and four kids. “Couple that with his courage and positive attitude, I was willing to serve alongside him and perform the operation.”

Dr. Kwon says the final pathology was extremely favorable when the tumor was safely removed, and there was no spread of cancer to the lymph nodes. “He has already defied significant odds, in that the highest likelihood of tumor recurrence is in two years after surgery, and now, Mr. Mysen is alive almost five years since his diagnosis.”

With a new lease on life, Dusty expresses the deepest gratitude for Dr. Kwon and the Henry Ford team who he says treated him like a person, not simply like a patient, and definitely not like a patient who wasn't going to be around for long.

“The staff including the nurses, phlebotomists and CT techs were caring, and obviously experts in their fields, but also always explained things in a way that I could fully understand. In terms of Dr. Kwon, there are no words to describe how amazing he is. He saved my life. But it's even more than that. He truly cares.”