My Mother has stage III Pancreatic Cancer, diagnosed June 2007. She has been receiving Chemo/Radiation/Genzar at the City of Hope Hospital. In June, she had exploritory surgery at a different Hospital and they determined it was localized but inoperable. Since then, the tumor has grown from 1.7 MM to 2.2 MM but has not spread.
She was told yesterday by the City of Hope Doctor's that an operation is available to her, where they would open her up to see if the Whipple Method is an option. The Doctor's give her a 25% chance of receiving a Whipple Method Surgery and 20% of living 5+ years if she receives that surgery.
Some Background: She is currently on disability, receiving SSN. My Brother lives at home with her but has a full-time job. She is strong, currently in no pain and again, the tumor is sustained.
My question is: Given the quality of life scenarios and the recovery time, I am interested in the good, bad, ugly stories that exist for the Whipple Method. What would YOU do?