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Pancreatic Cancer Group: Introduce yourself and connect with others
Pancreatic Cancer | Last Active: Jul 4 7:13pm | Replies (2323)Comment receiving replies
Jerlind1- my wife has stage 1b pancreatic cancer in the head. She has gone through 8 rounds of chemo but now doing daily radiation with chemo once per week. The mass had invaded the bile duct which caused severe jaundice. ( without the jaundice, we would have never known about the pancreas involvement). She had a stent put in to free the bile to her other organs and intestines. The stent has been obstructed once about 2 months ago and had an insert placed in the stent. We were told that the obstruction could return and cause another surgery to clear it. Any comments on a Wipple surgery or another route? The cancer is in the pancreas head.
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I am not thoroughly informed on why 1 treatment is recommended over another, but I also was diagnosed with a 1b pancreatic cancer in the head, February 2025. I live in CO, and am treated at UC Health. The recommended treatment was chemo first - I had 5 rounds - then the Whipple, and now 7 more rounds of chemo to make 12. Radiation was never mentioned. I was told it was good that I was a candidate for the Whipple, it was the best chance for a positive outcome, and that stage 1 was ‘curable’. Not guaranteed, of course.
I was 71 when I had the surgery, and in good physical shape prior to being diagnosed in Feb., doing a lot of hiking and going to the gym 3X/wk.
I thought about getting a second opinion at the beginning, but didn't want to waste any time, so just checked that both the hospital and surgeon were ‘high volume’ for the surgery, this is very important. I’m doing well now, with 4 more rounds of chemo (Fulfirinox) to go.
Hope this helps!