@hopeful33250 I wish I was aware of some of these things before I found out I had pancreatic cancer. I would have pushed my doctors for earlier testing.

I had several bouts of pancreatitis in the late 1990s. Idiomatic is the term the doctors used at the time. It simply means that they had no idea what was causing my attacks. Then 10 years ago, I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes. I was overweight and not very active so that was the explanation at that time.I started exercising and eating healthier foods and lost about 70 pounds. A few years later I developed abdominal pain and diarrhea. After my Whipple the surgeon said that from the size of the tumor he estimated that it had been growing for 20 years and was probably the cause of my attacks of pancreatitis and the cause of my diabetes. As I said, if I had known that all of these things were early symptoms of pancreatic cancer, I would have insisted that I have a CT scan much earlier. As it is, I am very thankful that the cancer had not spread very far and that with surgery and chemo the cancer was removed from my body and I am still alive today. I believe that I am here today only by the grace of God who worked through a very talented and skilled surgeon at Mayo.