Pancreatic Cancer

1warrior

My brother at age 44 was diagnosed with Stage 2 Pancreatic Cancer last Dec, 2011. He was out hunting and actually thought he was having a heart attack, went to the hospital only to find out a month later his heart was fine but they had found a tumor in his pancreas. He had PET scans and every other test known I think, told us cancer was very small and no evidence it had moved anywhere else. They wanted him to do a round of 5FU chemo to try and shrink it before the surgery which he did. He came through pretty well. No weight loss, not much nausea or hair loss. Just very fatigued. Went back to the doctor and of course they suggested more chemo and now added radiation, 28 treatments back to back of radiation and now the oral pill for chemo along with that each day . Also came through that pretty well. Here we are almost a year later, surgery day Sept 20, 2012. We had another PET scan, a 3d scan, everything looks good, lets get in and remove it and move on cancer free. Those were the doctors words. An 8 hour surgery turned into a one hour surgery with the doctor calling us into the conference room to tell us the cancer had moved to his liver. They removed the q-tip size tumor from the liver but did not touch the pancreas. They closed him up and said I give hime 6 months to 2 years to live. To say we were devastated is an understatement. I thought my mom was going to collapse in the room. After alot of research and what I know now. I will never take a chemo treatment for any cancer. There are so many natural things out there to try without these side effects. I feel like I live on the computer researching for my brother. I do not want him to take one more treatment , I feel it will decrease his time and his quality of life greatly and there is much data out there to prove that. How these doctors can justify getting richer by putting these killer drugs into people is beyond me. This is just my opinion but I would have to say if you or a family member have cancer please research before taking chemo. There is a book "Knockout" with vital information. Please read that book.

Ramona727

pancreatic cancer

I'm a 58 yr. young female......I was diagnosed with stage 4 panceatic cancer in Aug. of 2012......My world just fell apart on me........There is no cure......I have lesions on my liver, n lungs also.....The dr. set me up for chemo treatments and pain killers.......I had the choice between two type chemos.........one would give me more time but was sooooo strong.......the other was weaker and would give me less time.......I was a mess inside in more then one way......I tend to hold feelings in.......Long story short is......I am now seeing a different dr. and i'm able to do alot of things.....The best part is that I no longer take any pain meds.......I do take alot of chemo.......I take pills and infusions........The alternative is to die sooner then I will doing his regimine......I have 3 boys and a grandson.......We just burried their father last Sept. from liver cancer... They are what makes me keep going here......I am very close to my boys.....I worry about them soooooo much.....I know they will be fine eventually......They are strong boys........

I would love to talk to someone with the same kind of cancer as me........share stories etc.........

mockhill

Ramona727 said:

pancreatic cancer

I'm a 58 yr. young female......I was diagnosed with stage 4 panceatic cancer in Aug. of 2012......My world just fell apart on me........There is no cure......I have lesions on my liver, n lungs also.....The dr. set me up for chemo treatments and pain killers.......I had the choice between two type chemos.........one would give me more time but was sooooo strong.......the other was weaker and would give me less time.......I was a mess inside in more then one way......I tend to hold feelings in.......Long story short is......I am now seeing a different dr. and i'm able to do alot of things.....The best part is that I no longer take any pain meds.......I do take alot of chemo.......I take pills and infusions........The alternative is to die sooner then I will doing his regimine......I have 3 boys and a grandson.......We just burried their father last Sept. from liver cancer... They are what makes me keep going here......I am very close to my boys.....I worry about them soooooo much.....I know they will be fine eventually......They are strong boys........

I would love to talk to someone with the same kind of cancer as me........share stories etc.........

pancreatic cancer survivor

I know what you're feeling. I went thru this is 2003  They found it in Oct. 2003 (at a military hoapital) I had talked about going to MD Anderson but my Dr. said he felt he could do the surgery here then send me for chemo and radiation.  Mine was a stage 4 also.  In Jan. 2004 He took half the pancreatits, my spleen and a small section of colon. It was a good 8.5 hour surgery They took biopsy of suspictous areas of my liver but they turn out fine. A couple months later they put a port in for the chemo. I then went for chemo and radiation. I am doing fine. I still get nervous when I go in for my yearly ck-ups.  Do you know what your pa19 # is.  I do beleave b-12 after the surgery.  Keep your chin up.  Here it is 2012 and I'm still around. Trust in God.  He's the only one who knows when our time is up here.

Greg_and_Lori

mockhill said:

pancreatic cancer survivor

I know what you're feeling. I went thru this is 2003  They found it in Oct. 2003 (at a military hoapital) I had talked about going to MD Anderson but my Dr. said he felt he could do the surgery here then send me for chemo and radiation.  Mine was a stage 4 also.  In Jan. 2004 He took half the pancreatits, my spleen and a small section of colon. It was a good 8.5 hour surgery They took biopsy of suspictous areas of my liver but they turn out fine. A couple months later they put a port in for the chemo. I then went for chemo and radiation. I am doing fine. I still get nervous when I go in for my yearly ck-ups.  Do you know what your pa19 # is.  I do beleave b-12 after the surgery.  Keep your chin up.  Here it is 2012 and I'm still around. Trust in God.  He's the only one who knows when our time is up here.

Gives us hope

Hello,  wow!  your story gives me hope for my husband who was diagnosed with stage 3 pancreatic cancer in November 2012. His tumor is small but is wrapped around a major artery. He just finished 3 months of strongest chemo possible but his tumor did not shrink away from the artery enough to have surgery, so now doctors are starting him on daily chemo and radiation for 6 weeks. Doctors told us from the beginning that stage 4 cancer had no possible chance for surgery, so when i read your story with stage 4 cancer and was able to have surgery, gives me hope for my husband. I was curious to know what you meant by pa19 #? Thanks for sharing. I am happy to hear things are going well for you. 

gmouser

Greg_and_Lori said:

Gives us hope

Hello,  wow!  your story gives me hope for my husband who was diagnosed with stage 3 pancreatic cancer in November 2012. His tumor is small but is wrapped around a major artery. He just finished 3 months of strongest chemo possible but his tumor did not shrink away from the artery enough to have surgery, so now doctors are starting him on daily chemo and radiation for 6 weeks. Doctors told us from the beginning that stage 4 cancer had no possible chance for surgery, so when i read your story with stage 4 cancer and was able to have surgery, gives me hope for my husband. I was curious to know what you meant by pa19 #? Thanks for sharing. I am happy to hear things are going well for you. 

Which chemo drugs?

Many people swear by Gemzar.  Just curious if that's what they're giving him.  It can be a rough course, and some patients (particulary diabetics) may not be able to receive it.