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Pancreatic Cancer Group: Introduce yourself and connect with others
Pancreatic Cancer | Last Active: 1 day ago | Replies (1492)Comment receiving replies
Hi. I'm Mike LaB. I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on May 13, 2024. Since then I have completed chemo with Gemcitabine and Granisetron for 9 weeks. I had my last chemo on October 4th. I had no idea the side effects would have such an impact on my quality of life. The good news is that the tumor has not grown or metastisized. I am scheduled for a distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy on January 23rd. I have to admit that I am very nervous about this upcoming surgery and the recovery from it. I look forward to hearing from others who have gone through this journey.
Replies to "Hi. I'm Mike LaB. I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on May 13, 2024. Since then..."
I’d like to say “welcome”, but really is it a welcome you rather not have? - ha ha!
I went straight to my distal and spleenectomy surgery upon diagnosis in October 2022. 1 lymph node involvement and tumor was 2.4 or 2.5 cm so I was stage 2. I had recently turned 65 and used to walk a lot, but had many of the “comorbities” as they say; high blood pressure, borderline diabetic, cardiac arrhythmia (ventricular tachycardia) induced by extreme stress, sleep apnea, asthma. Had my doubts about coming out of surgery, but I did; just make sure they take as much as pancreas as is appropriate. In my case they took 75%. I too lost weight almost as much as you but most of I lost after surgery due to complications of a leaking pancreatic duct and fluid in lungs (walk a lot after surgery). I put it all back on since :(. Eat things you try not to eat too much I’m sure like ice cream or frozen yogurt or donut etc.Good luck in surgery. Where will it be done?
My husband had a distal distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy in Dec 2023. It was Stage 2B because the tumour was attached to the stomach. Recovery from surgery took about 2 months - I think it is because a wedge was cut off the stomach and there was healing there too. He carried around a drain (tube and bag) for about 3 weeks. About 66% of the pancreas was removed. All the lymph nodes, one adrenal gland, some abdominal fats and the spleen was tested negative for cancer. He has been on chemo for almost a year now - first with Folfirinox then Gem-Abraxane.
He lost weight in the 2 months and surgeon put him on Creon. He lost more weight once chemo started - all together 10kgs and he is not a big man so it was pretty scary. Good news is he has now regained all his weight, eats well, exercises and travels. Quality of life is what you make of it. The doctors know the science and the medicine but how you respond is entirely yours and being positive goes a long way. Just expect that recovery will take a little while and wake up each morning expecting to be better. All the best.
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Hello @mikelab and welcome to the Pancreatic Cancer support group on Mayo Connect. I am glad that you found this forum. It helps so much to meet others who are on a journey similar to yours.
First of all, congratulations on the effectiveness of the chemotreatment. Not having any growth or metastasis is good news.
We have a discussion group that might be of interest to you. Here is the link,
--Recovery after distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/recovery-after-distal-pancreatectomy-and-splenectomy/
I would also like to invite some other members of the Pancreatic Support group to meet you and share their experiences like @mnewland99 @stageivsurvivor @gamaryanne and others.
I look forward to hearing from you again, Mike. How are you feeling now? Have you been able to maintain your weight? Do you have any specific digestive problems?