Hello. my mother-in-law was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in April 2007. In December of 2006 she had her gallbladder out due to a 41/2 gallstonne and what they thought caused her extreme jaundice. After the surgery she was still jaundice. After many test and stints to open her bile duct they felt she may have pancreatic cancer. they debated on the Whipple procedure and finally did it in April 2007. It had spread to 3 lymph nodes and he could not get all the head pancreatic cancer. She finally began Gemzar/Tarceva in September. Her oncologist said it is a miracle she was able to have the surgery. She is supposed to have the Gemzar once a week for 3 weeks with one week off. that has never happened because her white counts don't allow it. Two in a row is all she has ever had and that has only happened three times. Her cancer marker numbers are great but not sure if that means anything since they have never been high even before surgery. Her doctor says he is pleased with what the medicine is doing. i am very frustrated because I feel they are giving too much false hope. I know there are fluke people who have miraculous stories of survival but the real truth is this disease usually does not go away completely. they have now decided to give her a break from the Gemzar and if her Numbers are still good after a month they will just keep her on the Tarceva without the gemzar treatments. She has lost 60 pounds over the past year.
they say her weight has stabilized even though she will lose a pound or two every few months. I feel like they are throwing these treatments at her because there is nothing else to do. I just don't understand the point of putting her through the ordeal of treatment when they keep saying it is just to "maybe " give her some more time, but they have not said how much time she may have anyway. I feel they are sending the wrong message and when things do get really bad it is going to be such a shock. We have talked openly about this the statistics, etc. But when the doctor and nurse act like she is doing great what does that really mean? She is 78 almost 79. We just want her to feel the best she can and not sure pumping poison into her body is the best way to do that. I would really appreciate your feedback and stories.