cancer in the pancreas

[yorkiemom]

My dad has just been told he has cancer in his pancreas, and two more small growths in his liver.
We are all obviously devastated, I was wondering if anyone has any experience of this, and any words of comfort??
He has an appointment with the consultant on friday, and after that we should hopefully have a plan of action.
I would be really grateful if anyone has any advise.
Many thanks

I'm so sorry yorkiemom, what a shock for you all
I think martianbishop's dh has pancreatic cancer - there's a recent update on how he is doing on the board.
My mum was diagnosed with ovarian cancer last year (and unfortunately we lost her in November) so I sadly know the shock and devastation such a diagnosis causes

All the best to you all.

My heart goes out to you Yorkiemom. There is nothing more devastating than a diagnosis of cancer. Both my Dad and my DH were diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus. Sadly, we lost Dad in November but DH is still having chemo and we're keeping our fingers crossed. There's a support thread for people affected by cancer. You'll find lots of advice and support there. It's here.

yorkie - my FIL was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. he was given months to live. they wouldn't even treat him in canada, because they thought there was no point.
He came to the UK, was treated and lived for another 8 years.

hi ya i lost my fil in october to pancreas cancer!!!
they told us its not treatable and was given 6 months and oly lasted 5 months!!!!

its hard to go through and you will need your family to stick together!!
my fil wanted to be at home which was great cause we had privacy!!!
try to keep your chin up and maybe its not as bad as my fil he was 65 .

Tnanks for all the responses. My dad has it in the end (tail part) of the pancreas, which hopefully is operable (fingers crossed). We are all trying to stay positive.
Thanks again to everyone.

Thinking positive is the best you can do. My dad was diagnosed in July 2002 and not expected to live to see Christmas that year. He was a very positive person and survived for five more years. It's my understanding that, generally speaking, if a cancer is operable and there are no secondaries, then you have a pretty good chance of a cure. I hope that's the case for your dad.

My FIL was diagnosed with this in 2005 after being ill for a long time (years). He had successful (major) surgery and has just been given the "all clear". In his case it had not spread though.

You have all my best wishes.

Pancreatic cancer isn't a 'good' one to have , and the survival rates are quite low.

Dh was given 3-6 months to live in Dec 2006. At the time his tumours had spread to the liver and the omentum (sp?)...pasically round the bowel.

He was immediatly put on two drugs, capecytabine and gemcytabine. Haveing the two drugs together increases the 1 year survival time from 16% to 25%, but not all Local Health Authorties will give both

The side effects get bad the longer you take them, and sadly the drugs do stop working after a time. This is what has happened with dh. There is no point continuing to take the drugs at that point.

He is now on a second line treatment of Oxaliplatin and capecytabine, which, at the moment seems to be working. Eventually they will stop working and they may just keep him on capecyatbine. At present dh has the original tumous and some in his lungs.

One thing that you must get sorted for your father is good palliative care. Get in contact with your local Macmillan nurses, they are wonderfu and will help to support your dad and the rest of the family.

Good palliative care will stop your father being in pain and will also stop him feeling and being sick (the disease can cause this as well as the drug treatments). Not only will this make him feel better, it will also extend his life. don't let him suffer, there is no need. Hospices are wonderful and will sort out his symptoms, you don't just go there to die.

Get him checked for diabetes, once this was picked up for DH he made a huge recovery.

Over a year later we still have dh with us. Some words of warning dh is only 45 and is otherwise a very fit and healthy man. He is also very physically 'tough', the drug treatments are hard going, but they can buy you more time, and better time.

I'm not sure if this is any help to you. My only advice would be to do what dh and I have done. Plan for the worst and live for the best.

there still is hope, and life can still go an and be lived to the full.

x

MB do you think the diagnosis would be the same in a young person. For example a member of my family who is in their teens has just had major op for a tumour on the pancreas. I am really worried now.
XX

It depends on the type of tumour.

Dh's i know is a bad one, and the survival rates are very poor. The 5 year survicval rate is 1% If there has been no spread, they can operate (It is a tough operation and they tend only to do it if they are sure it will be to good effect, the patient tends to need time in intensive care post surgery).

Youth does help in some ways, because it means they can take more chemo for longer . Dh's tumour doesn't respond to radiotherapy so that was not suggested.

Sorry if I have worried you.

MB please don't apologise. You have been through enough over the year without having to worry about worrying others. I am glad of your honesty. It's just that this has all just happened and it has come as a bit of a shock. I knew your DH has been very poorly and didn't realise it was this type of cancer. It is more common that I realised. Do you think she will have to have chemo then? Thank you for taking the time for this. Sorry to highjack the post by the way Yorkiemom. I wish your dad well.
XX

It really depends on the type of cancer, I think. If she needed chemo, they would have started it asap.

Dh's was started within a week of being diagnosed

MB's advice is very good. You should prepare for the worst but live every minute to the full. In some ways, the past year since DH was diagnosed has been one of the best. We crammed a lot more into it than we normally would. We never say 'let's do that one day', now it's 'let's do it right now'.

Thank you so much for all your responses. We have an appointment in the morning, and hopefully we will have a plan to work to after this.
We are all staying positive.
I wish you all well, and my best wishes go to you all, especially your family mb.
Thanks againx

its not good, dad is inoperable as it has spread.Will start chemo though and fight this tooth and nail.
We don't want to know time scales. i'm sorry cannot write any more, am not coping well and even gwtting out of bed this morning was a major effort. I just cannot believe it .

YM, I'm so sorry. I lost my dad to pancreatic cancer, if you ever want to talk. Take care of yourself. Is your dad at home? How did he take the news?

sorry yorkie (((((((((hugs)))))))) to you. We're here for support whenever you need it.
xxx

Thank you so much. I feel like I'm having a bad dream and will wake up soon.
Did you feel angry, because I feel really mad, and its so unfair, my dad has always worked really hard all his life, and financially things have been very tough the last few years.
I am a catholic, but this has really made me think what the hell has my dad done to deserve this. I sopose everyone feels like it should'nt be them though. Sorry I'm rambling now!!
2sugarsagain I'm sorry to ask, and if you don't want to go into detail I will totally explain. But my dad is going to start chemo soon, and we are all (i have a great mom, 5 sisters, and two brothers!) hoping for years and years and perhaps even by a miracle remission.
My dad is at home and they have now given him morphine to try to get his pain under control.
He is actually quite positive (or in front of us anyway) and cannot wait to start the chemo, and get something going.
Thanks geekgirl I hope this does'nt bring back the loss of your mom too painfully.
I really appreciate your best wishes, I really do. a day at a time xxx

sorry to hear about your Dad.
we have a different kind of cancer in our house, we know about chell radio and morphine. My best advise would be to get a Macmillan nurse, they also have a webite which has a chatboard that I have found helpful
take care.

yorkiemom, I was where you are this time last year with my mother, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer then. I cried and cried, but somehow I picked myself up and became determined to enjoy Mum and we have laughed and laughed together instead. She is still doing absolutely fine (touch wood) as I write, and is fit and well having had two lots of chemo and some radiotherapy. Hers is inoperable too, but we have had so much more time already than I thought we would, and I have been grateful for this to do things together and for her to have a holiday with us (and her grandchildren), and we have just had a lovely Christmas too. One day at a time, as you say; the first couple of weeks after the diagnosis were when I found it hardest and couldn't stop crying at odd moments. Since then I have coped much better, and I hope you find this too.

Yorkiemom, feeling angry is a totally normal response. I still get very angry that cancer struck my dad and my DH who are both lovely, lovely people when there are complete b@stards running around healthy. It seems so unfair. My dad worked hard all his life but never got to live to enjoy retirement (today would have been his 64th birthday).

It's a real blow finding out the cancer is inoperable but don't give up hope. Dad's was inoperable and he was only given six months to live but fought hard and lived for more than five years after diagnosis. It does happen, people do defy the odds. I really hope your Dad is one of them. DH is also inoperable and we're hoping he'll beat Dad's record.

Yorkie, I'm so sorry about your Dad's tumour being inoperable. We were told that once the tumous had spread they don't operate, but I didn't think that it was my place, or the internet the right forum, to tell you that.

The key thing is that the chem can make a huge difference to the quality and quantity of his life.

Dh was given 3-6 months. That was over a year ago. He took the kids into town shopping yesterday, he is playing on his computer with ds as I type this. We are going to go to the gym in a little while. I work out, he goes for second breakfast!

Life does go on, you make an accomodation with this bloody awful disease.

What chemo are they going to give him, I may be able to help you help him cope with the symptoms.

Please ask if I can be of any help, or CAT me if you prefer.

Much love.

yorkiemom, as mummydoit said, feeling angry is very much a part of it all. I do feel very bitter about my poor mum.
She was a lovely, decent and hardworking person who had looked after herself, and she had mybe another 30 years of seeing her much-loved grandchildren grow up and enjoying retirement stolen from her by this awful disease (she was 58 when she died).
I have not been able to see my in-laws since the summer - they are very uninvolved grandparents and have said outright that they don't want a close relationship with the children, and my mum loved the children so much... I feel so angry and bitter about all that. Even my dh said that the wrong grandma has died.

Anyway, I do hope that your dad's cancer responds well to the chemo and that your dad copes well with any side effects. Another thing to bear in mind is sorting out a support network for yourself - my GP referred me for counselling, and that has been really helpful.

I lost my Mum 2 years ago to pancreatic cancer.
She had an operation to remove the tumor, chemo for 4 months (trial at the royal london) all was well and then after a check it had spread to her liver.
The problem with this cancer is that it is so close to alot of other major things.
She lived for exactly one year after diagnosis,a nd although it was a hard year, we spent so much time together and never let it "spoil" things IYKWIM.
One of the last things I said to her as she lay in hospital was "going anywhere....it is Saturday night after all"............she said she was going to put her green lycra on and pop down to hollywood nightclub to see if she could pull.
The Happiest and saddest of times all at once.
My love goes to everyone who is coping with this horrible disease.
Lou xx
PS - counselling worked wonders for me after Mum died, a great outlet for your feelings.

My dad died of pancreatic cancer when i was 11.

i remember they couldnt operate on it and he wasnt ill for too long before he died.

Hope you are ok, thinking of you.