Jim Mccartney: My Life in Flight. This item is unavailable.Jim Mccartney: My Life in Flight

Summary: Diagnosis of Stage IV pancreatic cancer leads retired airline pilot to reflect on his life long career doing what he loves – flying airplanes. Six logbooks covering some fifty years of flying aid his recall of an aviation career with many twists and turns and the people he met along the way. Cancer treatment that promised only to extend his life by a few months is documented. In spite of the prognosis, he endured four different chemo regimens and infusion of microspheres into the liver to survive 18 months to celebrate his 73rd and 74th birthdays, two Christmases and two New Years. Jim succumbed to pancreatic cancer on February 17, 2012.

James F. (Jim) McCartney, a retired airline pilot, looks back at his career in aviation in light of his diagnosis of Stage IV pancreatic cancer. Jim collaborated with his sister, Angela McCartney Miró, to write the stories that highlighted his career and the path he followed to become an airline pilot. Angela, a retired paralegal, writes of her memories of the childhood she shared with Jim in rural Arkansas and documents Jim's treatment for pancreatic cancer. Through the years, Angela heard Jim’s stories of his aviation adventures and frequently urged him to write them down. During his illness, Jim loved working on the book because it was an opportunity to revisit memories of the aviation career he loved. He particularly wanted the book to pay tribute to all the pilots and others in the aviation field. Jim said he could have done nothing alone and he appreciated all those that helped him along the way. When he talked of his aviation adventures, Jim was visibly animated and the burden of cancer seemed to fall from his shoulders. While the cancer treatments promised only to extend his life by a few months, Jim survived 18 months following his diagnosis in August 2010. Pancreatic cancer is the really bad boy among cancers and only two drugs have been approved for treatment of pancreatic cancer. In addition to the approved drugs, Jim received "off label" treatment and treatment within an approved clinical trial. Sadly, Jim died on February 17, 2012. He fought the good fight, he finished the course, and he kept the faith. Pancreatic cancer is the 10th most commonly diagnosed cancer, but the 4th leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. The statistics have remained virtually unchanged for over 40 years. Research dedicated to pancreatic cancer receives approximately two percent of the federal dollars distributed by the National Cancer Institute. The authors have pledged to donate a portion of the proceeds from this book to pancreatic cancer research.