Here is some HOPE for you:
At the age of 57 my wife of 33 years was diagnosed in July 2011 with inoperable stage 4 pc, 5cm tumor on the body of the pancreas and 2 spots on her liver measuring less than 1cm each. CA19-9 numbers at diagnosis were at 21,000+ and her oncologist at UCSF was brutally honest and told us 3-4 months without any therapy and possibly an additional 2 months with therapy but 6 months max. He gave us several treatment options including 2 clinical trials and folfirinox. Because of her age being under 71 and having no prior heart conditions other than being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2006 at which time she began taking 850mg of Metformin 2x daily suggested she would be a great candidate for Folfirinox. She began to diet and exercise as a means to control this aspect of her disease but even having gone through 5 years of cardiovascular, strength endurance and weight lift training 5-6x per week an average of 2 hours per day she still needed the Metformin throughout those years to keep her blood sugars in check.
She began Folfirinox in August 2011 and my wife had a very difficult first cycle of Folfirinox, so bad she too wondered if moving forward with additional treatments was worth it. Her choice was to continue treatments and each treatment after the first became easier to manage with only mild side effects such as sensitivity to anything cold and the change in her taste buds making even water taste bitter. Most of the nausea and vomitting were non-existent with the administration of EMEND (aprepitant) and ATROPINE during the first 4 hour infusion. She started losing some not all of her hair after 3 months of chemo and gradually losing weight until she went from 125 pounds down to 90 pounds.
She ended up tolerating 9.5 cycles or 19 treatments of Folfirinox with little to no changes to her white blood counts from August 2011 through June 2012. After 4 months of chemo, spots on liver disappeared, 5cm tumor reduced to 4mm. By June of this year, CTscan revealed her liver remained clear and 4mm tumor became a scar tissue. NO MORE CHEMO as of June only the Metformin which she was now taking 3x a day to manage her diabetes and by September her last CTscan was better than the prior with no evidence of progressive metastatic disease or tumor recurrence. Her hair has grown back and she is not back to her normal weight of 125 pounds. Every two week blood draws remain stable and another CTscan is scheduled for later today.
The key will be in your Dad's ability to tolerate treatments. Provide for him a strong support system and keep encouraging him to fight this battle and tell him about other's like my wife who responded well to the point of remission. Doctors can deliver the diagnosis and prognosis but they ultimately ARE NOT IN CHARGE OF IT. Even our healthcare professionals know in many situations it's beyond their control. They can not tell you how long a person has to live. Keep in touch. Send me private messages here if you wish. I would like to offer whatever information I can offer coming from the standpoint of a caregiver and I can also somewhat speak for my wife who is now approaching 1.5 years in this journey. God bless your Dad and your family!