Pancreatic Cancer

My boyfriend is 29 and was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  It was said to be stage 1, and he just had surgery that removed two very small tumors (a combined size of less than 1 centimeter) from the distal part of his pancreas.  His biopsy directly after the surgery said that he had no more cancer, but he went in today for a checkup and they told him he would have to go through chemotherapy to kill cancer cells before they get into the bloodstream and/or lymphnodes.  Is this common? Is it possible the cancer has already spread to the bloodstream?  How long before it does spread if it hasn't?  What are his chances of survival? And what could have caused it.. he's so young? It sounds like a similar situation; it's so odd with someone who is so young and healthy.  Do you have any ideas on why someone like him could get this? Will he have to fight this for the rest of his life? If anyone has information pertaining to this, could you fill me in on information i should know?  Thanks a ton. 

This is a message for everyone with pancreatic cancer.  I have not read all of the messages on this website related to pancreatic cancer, but I do know that M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX is the number 1 cancer center in the country.  I have been a patient there for 36 years when I had been diagnosed with a large inopperable tumor in my abdomen.  I think it might be wise to contact MDACC to find out if there is anything that they would recommend. 

 

If this helps, my father was diagnosed with this on the 16th February, 2008 and now has had the Whipple Procedure and returned home.  He is doing very well.  He is 70 years old and lives in Johannesburg, South Africa.  Please tell your son to let his friend know that it is all to do with the mind and he must remain positive and accept what he has and remember that Power of the Mind and prayer help all.  I honestly though that my father would never return home and recover the way he has.  If he can do this at 70 your sons friend will do this with no trouble at all.  I hope that what ever he has to go through will go well and will pray for him.  God Bless you all.

I see your email is dated quite a while ago

What is the update

 My spouse was just diagnosed--we are having a Petscan today and a bone test on Thursday

 How did you keep yourself together so as to help the patient

 

I hope all is well

carol b gray

I am an Italian American female who is 47 years old and just had a whipple procedure to remove the cancer from my pancreas. Unfortunately this disease hits people of all age groups and nationality.

Here is a hopeful message about pancreatic cancer. 

Dr. Freeman recounts a case that exemplifies the center’s team approach to pancreatic care. "Four years ago, a North Dakota woman presented with obstructed jaundice," he recalls. "Her physician tried to do an ERCP catheter and couldn’t, so he referred her to me. I saw her and sent her to Dr. Mallery for an endoscopic ultrasound. He found operable pancreatic cancer. I put a stent in her bile duct to relieve the jaundice, and then she had the Whipple operation at the university. Because the pancreatic cancer cure rate is low and operations are seldom curative, I advised her to move to Minnesota and get aggressive chemotherapy from Dr. Greeno. She had breast cancer as well, so she couldn’t get a formal protocol. Dr. Greeno treated her off protocol with very aggressive chemo-radiation. Today, this woman is alive and doing well with no recurrent disease. She really needed the staging, endoscopic ultrasound, expert surgery and chemotherapy that our team provides. She beat breast cancer and pancreatic cancer; and she only got to us because her physician wasn’t able to get a catheter in her duct.

"Stories like this are why we do what we do," Dr. Freeman continues. "We handle the really tough technical cases and difficult disease management, and we offer something unique: expeditious care with the best surgeon, the best GI oncologist, the best endoscopic diagnosis, the best palliation and access to cutting-edge techniques and treatments that aren’t available elsewhere."

 ....

"When the problem is benign chronic pancreatitis and all else fails, our pancreatectomy and transplant options are starting to catch on across the country," says Dr. Freeman. "It’s a very exciting area." Approximately 100 pancreatic resections, 1,200-1,300 EUS procedures and over 100 new cases of chronic pancreatitis are handled at the center every year.

Center physicians repeatedly emphasize the importance of their team approach to comprehensive coordinated patient care. "Our vested interest is in the center," says Dr. Freeman, "and in the best possible care for the patient. There’s no vested interest for me to perform one more ERCP procedure. Often, patients come to us when there’s nowhere else to go. Working together, we’ve developed ways to treat patients who’ve been told that there is no treatment."

"Each one of us here is really an academic physician," states Dr. Vickers. "That means that first and foremost, we take care of patients. Secondly, we ask questions. Why aren’t our patients doing better? How can we manage them better? How can we detect cancer earlier? Pancreatic cancer is multifactorial. To treat it well, you have to do more than take care of it. You have to ask questions. You see the strength of our conference. It not only gives accurate diagnosis and corrects inaccurate diagnosis, it also provides a unique opportunity for the patient to benefit from a working team of specialists."

"I became a doctor to take care of sick people," Dr. Greeno says quietly. "The greatest reward is to care for the sickest, most challenging patients. Pancreatic cancer is difficult and incredibly frustrating to treat. But these are the people who need our help the most."

You can read more here.

http://www.minnesotaplc.com/Resources/Images/379.pdf

Hi I'm so sorry about your friend,

How considerate of you to make the effort to help. I noticed some of the symptoms your friend was having are very similar to mine. I was told some time ago by a holistic doc that I might have a yeast allergy. After reading up on it on the web & books, I came to the conclusion that I had almost all of the symtoms of a yeast allergy & other food allergies.  Back pain for years, unable to loss weight, rash on my chest, hair loss, constipation, irritable bowel, constant bloated feeling, stomach looked like I was pregnant but I was thin everywhere else etc etc. I decided to go to a Traditional Chinese Medicine doc, who tests for food allergies. He performed Applied Kinesiology testing on me and determined that I was allergic to yeast. It began to all make sense to me. He also determine that the yeast allergy was making me intolerant to many other foods. He told me to go on a strict diet of only organic beef & chicken & organic vegs (mostly green). No bread, flour, sugar, sweetner or yeast of any kind. He put me on chinese herbs & a vitamin called yeast fighter. He also told me to take baking soda (sodium Bicarbonate) & water if I ate anything I was intolerant to. He said this would neutralize the food I was intolerant to, I did this and spent months researching yeast allergies, baking soda & every remedy he suggested. Needless to say I dropped the 20 lbs that I wasn't able to drop for 20 yrs in a matter of 3 weeks. To make a long story longer when I was researching sodium bicarbonate I came across on the web a doctor in Spain that claims he can cure cancer with sodium bicarbonate. He claims that cancer isn't cancer at all but an overgrowth of yeast or Candida (which is an overgrowth of bad bacteria in the body). He also claims that 98% of cancer patients that pass away are loaded with candida or an overgrowth of yeast. I found this very ironic...& remembered that my doctor who studied in China told me to take baking soda. I am no doctor but I do know that 1 in 3 people in the U.S. have a yeast overgrowth & arent' aware of it. Yeast overgrowth is usually caused by too many antibotics or the birth control pill. I also found out that I have had this yeast allergy for almost 20 yrs. & didn't know it. I was diagnosed with Premature Ovarian Failure or (menopause) in my early 20's after 4 yrs of taking Birth Control pills.  I always attributed all of my symtoms to the menopause. I never quite understood why I would have premature menopause as my mom had 7 kids & come from a very fertile family. I always blamed it on the BC pill & with good reason...now I know that it caused the yeast allergy & my doctor believes the yeast allergy caused me to go into premature ovarian failure. You should know that after taking this doctors advise I feel better than I have in 20 yrs. Like I said I'm no doctor but it sounds to me like your friend might have a yeast allergy. Most docs in the US do not diagnose adults having yeast allergies, tell your friend to find a Traditional Chinese Medicine Doc that has studied in China. This doc should also do food allergy testing (not the kind with the skin pricks) Tell your friend to do his research & change his diet & I bet the symptoms will start subsiding. Best of luck to you both. Anne

 

On 4/7/2008 daughterofpatient wrote:

My dad was just diagnosed staged 4b, anything else you can give me info on I would really appreciate it.  Dont know if you still check this but in case you do I thought I would try.

 

My father was also diagnosed with stage 4b a little over 2 months ago. Since this happened any new treatments I've heard of that seem to be promising are always available to all stages except the one my dad has. Cyberknife, TNferade are both recent treatments showing success. Everywhere I look I get discoursged, any glimpse of hope is soon gone once I find out my father isn't eligible. Not sure if you can relate but I was wondering how your dad is doing and what treatment he may be getting?

I am so sorry.  My brother was told he had pancreatitis in August '07.  He was then told it was panceatic cancer in December '07.  He is only 47 and Caucasion.  Evidently, man, woman, old or young are not exempt from this dreadful disease.  He was not eligible for surgery as it was wrapped around a blood vessel.  (Although I have attended seminars and researched the web, and it seems like you can still have surgery despite this fact. )  He underwent chemo and radiation..and was in a clinical trial..(If your friend's son can be accepted in a clinical trial that is at least a SMALL chance.)  Well, it did not work....he developed a blood clot from the chemo...or the cancer in general....was dropped from the trial...and has to wait TWO MONTHS to see if the blood clot has disappeared...and or the tumor has spread.  (It currently has not spread to any part of his body with the exception of the blood vessel.)   Seems like pancreatic cancer is about the worse one to get....as it takes them an EXTREAMLY long time to finally diagnose it.    He has pretty much been told there is no hope.  He does not accept this...but our family is finally coming to grips with it.   

Good luck, I feel your pain........