Former UMaine trainer Jordan battling pancreatic cancer

Wes Jordan, the highly respected University of Maine athletic trainer from 1965-1997, has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and will meet with an oncologist in Minneapolis on Tuesday for further evaluation and to discuss treatment options.

“There is a large tumor around the liver and pancreas. There isn’t much they can do. Of all the cancers, this is one of the poorest,” said Jordan from his home in Pequot Lakes, Minn.

“I’m going to play it by ear and keep a positive attitude. My wife [Lyn] and I are going to head south [to our home in Florida] with the idea of enjoying whatever time it is we have together. We’ll take it from there,” said Jordan.

Extreme fatigue was the first symptom Jordan noticed in September and he also has had a pain in his rib cage, shortness of breath, a low-grade fever and night sweats.

“But I don’t feel bad right now. I just don’t have a lot of endurance,” said Jordan.

The 63-year-old Jordan and his wife retired and moved to Minnesota last year and bought a home in Naples, Fla., last winter.

“I have no regrets about my life. I have three wonderful kids, a wonderful wife, two wonderful grandsons and wonderful step-kids,” said Jordan. “I’ve had a wonderful career. I’ve done more than I ever expected to do.”

He said he couldn’t have written a better script for his life “although I would like for it to run a bit longer.

“But there are certain things you have no control over. Someone has a plan for us and when it is your time, it’s your time,” said Jordan.

Jordan launched the careers of dozens of trainers through the program he taught at the university.

Jordan was also a fixture at the Eastern Maine schoolboy and schoolgirl basketball tournaments at the Bangor Auditorium. He worked his last tourney in 2000.

He is a member of the National Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame, the Maine Sports Hall of Fame and the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame.

In recent years, he had served as a part-time trainer at Brewer High School for three years and he taught a class at Bangor’s Husson College.

“It was wonderful to see the Brewer football program back on its feet,” said Jordan, referring to their 7-3 record. “Those were the three best years I’ve had in my training career. They were wonderful people to work for and to work with.”