Pancreatic Cancer Group: Introduce yourself and connect with others

@colleenyoung Hey, I was just recently diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer Stage 4 in August of this month, 2026. I had been having stabbing back pain under my right shoulder blade for years and all the doctors diagnosed me with muscle pain or some kind of back pain. Little if nothing helped it so I learned to live with it. Dial it forward to last month and I had A-fib so went to the emergency room. Got the normal CT scan for the heart but the exam showed something concerning with the pancreas. So after I got shocked back into rhythm, I had a consult with a GI specialist who prescribed the MRI for abdominal area. There it was, small tumor with metastatic spots on my liver. So now I await treatment which I am hoping will in include the new drug. I am at Mayo in Jacksonville Florida where they are just starting the trial to use the new drug as the first line of treatment. I have had 20 or more surgeries relating to athletics and was never nervous about the outcomes. But this, I am scared, a lot. I just got to the age to retire, see my boys get married and have grandchildren. I don't want to miss that. I pray to God he give me enough time on this earth to see that. All the other surgeries I knew I was going to get better through physical therapy and my persistence to get well. This seems to be out of my control and I honestly don't know what to do, what I can control and contribute. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated! Thanks all and I pray for everyone impacted by this cruel disease to get better and fight strong.

I was given my diagnosis just this evening- though I was expecting it to come back as pancreatic cancer.
It’s small 15mm x 16mm in the pancreas head and unction (???)
There is nothing the tumor has connected to, clear lymph nodes and not connected outside of the pancreas.

Still trying to wrap my head around all of this!

@colleenyoung Hey, I was just recently diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer Stage 4 in August of this month, 2026. I had been having stabbing back pain under my right shoulder blade for years and all the doctors diagnosed me with muscle pain or some kind of back pain. Little if nothing helped it so I learned to live with it. Dial it forward to last month and I had A-fib so went to the emergency room. Got the normal CT scan for the heart but the exam showed something concerning with the pancreas. So after I got shocked back into rhythm, I had a consult with a GI specialist who prescribed the MRI for abdominal area. There it was, small tumor with metastatic spots on my liver. So now I await treatment which I am hoping will in include the new drug. I am at Mayo in Jacksonville Florida where they are just starting the trial to use the new drug as the first line of treatment. I have had 20 or more surgeries relating to athletics and was never nervous about the outcomes. But this, I am scared, a lot. I just got to the age to retire, see my boys get married and have grandchildren. I don't want to miss that. I pray to God he give me enough time on this earth to see that. All the other surgeries I knew I was going to get better through physical therapy and my persistence to get well. This seems to be out of my control and I honestly don't know what to do, what I can control and contribute. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated! Thanks all and I pray for everyone impacted by this cruel disease to get better and fight strong.

@kathylisk, just checking in. How are you doing? Have you had further appointments to discuss your treatment plan? When do you begin?

@tomrennie yesterday was tough- nausea returned. i finally drank lots if fluids and after a good nights sleep i feel much better this morning.
i hope it continues!
How are you?

I did make myself go out yesterday. I volunteer at Dock Street, a theater downtown, and yesterday we had some training in the morning. I had gone to the beach for a nest inventory before that. Then the kids came over- they are busy busy3yr old and 6 yr old.

I did not watch the Phillies last night- i guess it was a good one to miss. So far i like their acquisitions.

In the process of lining up a second opinion visit to John Hopkins. They have been very cooperative and helpful. Unless my schedule here gets messed up I should be there all day Sept 1 for evaluation.

My extremely talented son in law fixed my phone yesterday- i can hardly do without this darn thing now. Too many drs visits!
I will try to watch the phillies tonight since they come on a little earlier. The kids and family are coming back over to fix dinner.

I hope your day is a great one!!!

@bwelch235, I'm so glad that you connected with @tomrennie here. He too has stage 4 pancreatic cancer with mets to the liver. You are both in good hands at Mayo Clinic - one in Florida, the other in Arizona.

Keep that mindset of persistence and focus on healing. It will serve you well even in the cancer experience as will being fit. And you've got those boys and their future endeavors that you want to be part of.

May I assume that having had surgeries related to althetics that you are in relatively good physical form?

@colleenyoung yeah, all from athletics really. For a 60 year old I feel I am in pretty good shape. Weight is down, not due to the cancer and continue to be active as much as I can. Played basketball and baseball in college and just kept playing until I couldn't any more. then changed to tennis and now pickleball. chest and mid back pain seems to be under control. Had the nerve block done at the same time I had my biopsies done. I believe my team is getting me into the new trial for daraxonrasib (RMC-6236). right now just going to consultations regarding that. Hope to get that started soon. And yeah, right now day by day. I haven't told my boys yet because they had planned trips with their girlfriends over seas and didn't want to ruin their trips. Telling them will be one of the worst things I have ever had to do. Thanks for replying. Always good to have a support group you can engage with.