The return of my PC

In Nov. of 2003 I had the whipple surgery done.  They removed 2/3 of my pancreatic, had radiation and chemo (gemzar and 5FU).  Every thing was going well, till this Jan.  I just saw the surgeon and he is not to keen on doing surgery.  He said removing the rest of my pancreatic will greatly decrease the quality of my life that's if I survive the surgery.  They are not sure if this is a new tumor or something from the old tumors.  The tumor is 2 cm.  Can anyone help give me some hope or know of any thing that can help.  Even a doctor that can give me hope.  I will be 45 in April.  My younger child is ten years old.  I see the chemo Doctor again on Monday. When I saw him last he just passed me on to the surgeon.  I really need some incouragement.  Can any one help?  Thank you  Mary

How badly do you want to stay around to see your 10 year old child grow up?  If that is of the utmost importance to you, then start the next part of your journey by joining the Johns Hopkins support board; those folks are extremely caring and knowledgeable.  Tell your story there and ask for advice.  You can't let a surgeon and oncologist tell you your time is up; no one on earth has that job.  But you must be willing to fight harder than you ever believed you could.  You need to find a surgeon and oncologist who both believe that you are worth saving and are willing to fight with you for your life.  There are some great surgeons and oncologists around and the people at PANCAN can tell you who they are; I don't know PANCAN's number but for sure someone on the JH board will.  Just to name a few, I have heard really great things about Johns Hopkins pancreatic surgeons and there is an oncologist in New York named Dr. Howard Bruckner who is said to work miracles.  I wish you well.