1. < Pancreatic Cancer

Has anyone been able to have surgery for tumor in the tail?

Posted by vlny2018 @vlny2018, Jul 3, 2024

Has anyone been able to have surgery for tumor in the tail of the pancreas, stage 4, metastasized to the lymph nodes. My husband's oncologist says that sugery isn't an option ever for him. Just chemo every two weeks until folfirinox doesn't work or becomes too toxic. Then some other chemo mix, then … Is this true? This is so discouraging. If the tumors shrink, can't they do more? My husband has had the cancer go into his lymph nodes close to his kidney and the pressure was closing the tube connecting to his bladder, and now has a stint in place to keep kidney function, which it has done.

We have an appointment with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester in August. My husband just had his 4th treatment and will be having a PET scan the end of July. Other than this, he has been extremely healthy, no bad habits, exercises everyday, and eats clean. This is just a huge punch in the gut, as I'm sure is everyone's experience.

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marienewland | @mnewland99 | Jan 4 12:41pm
In reply to @lkat01 "Hello, I am scheduled for an MRI on Jan 20th after CT scan showed a new..." + (show)
@lkat01

Hello, I am scheduled for an MRI on Jan 20th after CT scan showed a new lesion on the tail of the pancreas. I live in North East Ohio. I am not looking forward to the chemo. I have been there once before. I hope you have good results in the future .

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Have you thought of an alternative like MRIdean radiation? I dint even know if pancreas is a candidate for that. Is surgery not an option? I had distal surgery and MRIdean on my liver lesion; they both worked well.

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1 reply
lkat01 | @lkat01 | Jan 5 7:12am
In reply to @mnewland99 "Have you thought of an alternative like MRIdean radiation? I dint even know if pancreas is..." + (show)
@mnewland99

Have you thought of an alternative like MRIdean radiation? I dint even know if pancreas is a candidate for that. Is surgery not an option? I had distal surgery and MRIdean on my liver lesion; they both worked well.

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Not sure of anything yet. Will have to see what the MRI shows.

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marcia | @marciak9 | Jan 5 12:18pm
In reply to @lkat01 "Hello, I am scheduled for an MRI on Jan 20th after CT scan showed a new..." + (show)
@lkat01

Hello, I am scheduled for an MRI on Jan 20th after CT scan showed a new lesion on the tail of the pancreas. I live in North East Ohio. I am not looking forward to the chemo. I have been there once before. I hope you have good results in the future .

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Hi there. I know what you mean about chemo. My first 12 rounds of folfirinox seemed like a walk in the park compared to my later run with gemabrax. I hopes it goes well with you

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joiedevivre | @joiedevivre | 1 hour ago
In reply to @joiedevivre "If you have children, you should get them tested for the BRCA mutation. My husband had..." + (show)
@joiedevivre

If you have children, you should get them tested for the BRCA mutation. My husband had pancreatic cancer and is still undergoing treatment. He does not have the BRCA mutation in his blood but it was found in the tumour cells. We were told by our oncologist that the BRCA mutation tumour is best treated with Gem-Abraxane. We were told there are Plan B, Plan C and clinical trials if Gem-Abraxane stops working but onco has not told us what they are because the Gem-Abraxane is still working for my husband.
Like your wife, I am my husband's caregiver. It is a tough journey for her I am sure. I wish you both all the best.

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I need to correct the information I gave here, which is wrong. I misunderstood the oncologist. My husband did not have the BRCA mutation but the KRAS G12D mutation (not BRCA) was found in the tumour and that is the mutation that can be treated by Gem-Abraxane. Sorry for the wrong info; so much info needs to be processed and understood.

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