Pancreatic Cancer

My son's best friend is 31. He has just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I think it has spread to the lymph nodes. From my reading, the median for this kind of cancer is an african-american, over 60, with diabetes!

Is there anyone else out there with a similar story? If so, please respond with your treatments, support and any info you have thank you very much.

Marian

I am a 38 year old male. I have been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I am currently undergoing chemo treatment. This will be followed by chemo and radiation, which will then be followed by surgery. This protocal may be a little different than what you may have heard. I am being treated in Houston, TX. My tumor is in the head of the pancreas. Size is about 23mm in diameter. No spreading has been detected.

My father was just diagnosed with extremely advanced stage IV pancreatic cancer. He fits most of the typical aspects of the cancer considering he is 54, african american, and has diabetes. I read your post and I wanted to tell you that I found it odd he had the cancer as well, but I am very happy that it has not spread. Before they even found my father's, it had spread to his liver. This site offers much hope for him, and I hope all turns out to be well. I did a lot of research on the internet and I learned that many people with pancreatic cancer are diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis instead and given the wrong type of treatment. My father was unfortunate to encounter this. This post is getting rather long, but the point is that a lot of doctors played with my fathers life. They put him through so much pain when treating him for the wrong disease. If you do some research you will find that it is hard to tell a difference between chronic pancreatitis. Many doctors do not have much experience with this type of cancer, and since this is a more serious type of cancer, I just wanted to make sure he has a doctor who is actually going to help and not write it off as a lost cause. I will pray for him and my father, and I am sorry that this happened.

I hade burning pains in my stomach In Aug 2004 and had a cat scan of my upper abdomen on 1 Sept 2004. My GP prescribed antibiotics for an ulcer but the pains got worse .I then saw a gastroligist who put me thru a colonoscopy and a gastroscophy even though I had told him I had turned yellow ie jaundiced .He still made me go ahead with the two procedures .Nothing showed up on the scan apparently and I admitted myself to a public hospital where I was treated for jaundice .They carried out an ERCP (3times)and a scan they did revealed cancer in the head of the pancreas .By this time it was early Nov 2004 and it had become inoperable .Yes PC is difficult to detect but our medical professionals should work harder on detecting what is really wrong with their patients .

Hello, I'm new to this board, and my father was just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this week (inoperable).

So I know what you're going through and just wanted to say I'm so sorry someone else is going through this too.

Sending warm thoughts to you and your family.

Tiffany

Hello, me again. I just checked the date of your post. I was thinking it was more recent. Anyway, sorry for the error, but the contents are still valid.

Dear jennifer
I believe my brother is at end stage pancreatic cancer. As you have already experienced, there are no words to express this experience. I am wondering if you would mind sharing what you went thru as I plan to hospice my brother at home (I am a r.n.).

You are correct, many md's do not understand this disease process, mainly bc it presents so late in the disease process that it is too late to treat.

Thanks

My heart breaks for you. My father also was diagonosed 3/6/05 with Pancreatic cancer. He is on his way to sloan kettering at this very moment for a second opinion. I am so sick and worried. Please tell me how your father is doing. I am praying for a miracle and I believe! Today is Good Friday I will pray for your father also today. God Bless You and your family. Please write back.

Hello, I am new to this site, but I was searching and found exactly the support I needed. My mother (57) was diagnosed with pancreatic ca in January 2005. February, she had a 2.5cm tumor in the body of the pancreas. Complained of abd/back pain for over a year,but was treated with pain meds. The pain became unbearable and finally, a cat scan was done. The result illustrated that a tumor had invaded the splenic vein as well. Surgery performed was distalpancreatectomy resection with removal of the spleen.

I find it ironic that no one followed the complaints until a family member persued with more testing. She is 2 weeks into rad tx and chemo, lost with weight loss of about 30 lbs. Apparently, the treatment is for the surgerical bed(borders) and 1 lymphatic node.

She has a strong family hx of adult diabetes, but was not diagnosed as a diabetic until the found the tumor on cat scan. Anyone with common sense would known that the pancreas controls the insulin,therefore if there is a tumor in the pancreas that restricts that function, the end result will make you a diabetic.
My question: If the patient is predisposed to certain genetic disease (diabetes in this case) would you not do lab values on a routine basis to check the function? How long will it take for a patient to suffer before something is done? Where is the preventive medical approach in this case?

My prayers are with all of us.

I am new to this board - my husband was diagnosed with stage IV non-operable pancreatic cancer in March, 2005. He is 57. He presented with what was initially diagnosed as diabetes in November, 2004, and treated incorrectly for this disease. His abdominal pain continued and increased until it was unbearable. Finally, after admission to the hospital, and a CT scan, it was clear: a 12cm tumor in his pancreas, with masses in his lymph nodes, outer stomach lining and liver. A needle biopsy on his liver was performed to confirm the diagnosis. He started chemo a week later, which he's had for the last six weeks. Its been terrible. He's scheduled for another 6 weeks of chemo starting May 9, but we're considering bypassing it. At this point, he can't take anything orally because it comes back up 30 minutes later. He has a pic line and gets two liters of liquid diet every night through the pic line. I also admister morphine as needed through his pic line - and he is up to 4 morphine patches. We are trying to keep him comfortable and out of pain. Its been a struggle dealing with this, especially with our children at home: 10, 11 and 13 years old. Our 23 year old moved home to be with us. My question - is it a good idea to keep him at home as he progresses to hospice? Will it be too hard for our kids? Any comments are appreciated.