Anyone have pNET in pancreatic tail & had distal pancreactomy?

@christobelle89. I have a question on how the mets have metastasized to the liver after the pancreatectomy and Splenectomy removed the Pnet. Is there still a pathway to spread after the tumor is removed. What was the immediate medicinal treatment after your surgery.

My liver ablation for 2 small lesions is next month followed by pancreactomy/splenectomy. I might have been naive that it would not produce further lesions after removal.

I was just diagnosed, yesterday in fact, with pancreatic cancer, with a mass 4.9x3.8 cm involving the distal pancreatic body and tail with infiltrative features and a small adjacent cystic 1.5 cm lesion .
Is this the right group for me. I haven't seen my doctor yet, will have an appointment this week.

@kathyfujii I am not a doctor, nor do I have any medical background, but I "believe" that since they are now monitoring my blood for circulating cancer DNA that it is at least one of the modes by which the cancer is spread. They discovered my cancer almost serendipitously. It was very small and what they call the K67?( my understanding is that has something to do with the rate at which it is likely to spread) was very low. After a biopsy they have said that the cancer in my liver is the same....so "evidently?" slow growing. In my original surgery they removed the cancer from the tail and also removed the spleen. Hope my unmedical explanation was helpful.

@mcharlesfrancis , thank you so much for your encouraging words, I truly appreciate it.
Also thank you for the list of questions I should ask my doctor. I will print your answer and take with me as soon as I get my appointment.

I still seem to be in a daze as this was so unexpected.

I will keep the group up to date.

@katzen5 Hi and welcome to Mayo Connect. You already got some great input. Pancreatic cancer is the location of the cancer. As others suggested, the type of cancer usually determines treatment. What led up to your diagnosis? Did you have any symptoms? What tests resulted in the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer? Thanks.

@katzen5 Thank you to all that responded to my email. I had my appointment with my doctor late on Tuesday. We, my husband, doctor and myself sat there in stunned silence, then we got down to business. I will need more testing and a biopsy for the final diagnosis. We talked about possible treatments and talked about the what ifs !!! I also received a call from my GI doctor who has ordered another CTscan with contrast of the pancreas and depending on the results he will do an endoscopy with ultrasound and possibly a needle biopsy. The scan is scheduled for next week.so it is just the waiting game and trying not to worry.

@katzen5 Thank you to all that responded to my email. I had my appointment with my doctor late on Tuesday. We, my husband, doctor and myself sat there in stunned silence, then we got down to business. I will need more testing and a biopsy for the final diagnosis. We talked about possible treatments and talked about the what ifs !!! I also received a call from my GI doctor who has ordered another CTscan with contrast of the pancreas and depending on the results he will do an endoscopy with ultrasound and possibly a needle biopsy. The scan is scheduled for next week.so it is just the waiting game and trying not to worry.

Good afternoon. I had pancreatectomy to tail in 2024. Started lap and converted to open. I was in hospital for 7 days. Was on ketamine drip that controlled pain pretty well. I like that I didn’t feel “high” while on this although nurses frequently asked if I was hallucinating which was kind of unsettling. This is a side effect I didn’t have fortunately. First few days were rough trying to sit up. Listen to nurses and do the log roll to sit up. Also splinting w a pillow helps. My open incision was only 2inches. It did keloid few weeks after surgery and to this day still bothers me w intermittent pain although it only lasts few minutes and is not bad maybe 3/10. My cancer is stage four w Mets to liver and bone so incurable, but I’m glad I had primary tumor taken out as I feel better knowing the cause of this has been removed. I had little nausea and never vomited. I felt and still do feel a lot less bloated since my surgery. Good luck and I hope you have a speedy recovery!

@katzen5 Good luck with the scan this week. Please let us know how it goes?