Connect
Celebrating Life after Pancreatic Cancer!
Today is May 9. Five years ago, on May 9, 2014, I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Two days after my diagnosis, my wife and I went to church with our son. On that day the pastor preached a sermon on Romans 8:28. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” As we left church that morning, we did not know what the future held for us, but we were assured that God would be with us. Three weeks after preaching that sermon, the pastor's wife died of pancreatic cancer. When I told my boss that I had pancreatic cancer, he was concerned because his father died 6 months after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. My Whipple procedure was done on June 5, 2014. On that day, my brother-in-law was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He lived for another 20 months before the cancer took him. Two years ago, my cousin was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He died 10 days later. My grandpa died before I was born, but last year I found out that he died of heart failure a few days after having surgery for pancreatic cancer. When I was diagnosed, the 5-year survival rate was 5%. Now it is 9%. Today, by God's grace and because of the help I received from the doctors and nurses at Mayo, I am alive and celebrating life!
Like
Helpful
HugInterested in more discussions like this? Go to the Pancreatic Cancer Support Group.
Connect
What a great report, @marvinjsturing! Thank you for sharing it. I'm sure it will be an encouragement to others.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
3 ReactionsMarvin, May you enjoy many more years! Your celebration of life is awesome! Moo1
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
3 ReactionsThank you for sharing. I was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and it is daunting to here stories of people dying so it is always uplifting to hear stories of survival.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionWelcome @sophiesother. I look forward to getting to know more about you and to connect you with other members living with pancreatic cancer. How were you diagnosed? Do you know what stage of cancer you have? What treatment options are being suggested for you?
I was diagnosed in September of last year. Stage 3 locally advanced to veins and arteries.
I completed 10 rounds of Folfirinox and 4 rounds of Gemzar/ abraxane chemo. I am getting to start 3 weeks of chemo radiation here at Mayo. Dr. Truty is hopeful for a resection surgery in the future
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
4 ReactionsSophie, have you started chemo/radiation? How are you doing?
Yes I am starting my 3rd week of radiation today. I am doing ok.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 ReactionsHi everyone, I been reading some of your stories and you have no idea how much they been helping me in helping my dad. My dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer December 2021. They said it was stage 1B and that it didn’t spread anywhere else. He started chemotherapy right away. We thought that chemo was gonna be devastating but it wasn’t that bad for him. He is 65 with no other mayor health problems other than a history of blood clots so he is been on blood thinners for over 15 years. Chemo actually took care of the back pain and all the other issues he had prior to cancer diagnosis. He did 8 round of chemo and some radiotherapy prior to Wipple. He was better than ever before the procedure. He got his surgery august 15, he is now home recovering. The tumor was negative of cancer, everything they took was cancer free. However my dad is having a hard time recovering. Everything is going good according to the doctor but I can see that my dad is getting frustrated. He feels weak, and he has a sense that he will never get his life back. He goes to the bathroom a lot that’s the main issue he is having. He spend over 2 weeks at the hospital and it’s been almost one month since surgery. How can I help him? I would like to share with him some of the stories to see if that will give him hope. Will he feel better eventually? Thank you so much in advance
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 ReactionsThank you so much for sharing! I needed to read your post 💕💕💕My dad got his Procedure done a month ago. Waiting for him to feel better.
Hello @sofiadide20 and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I wanted to bring your post on your dad's post-treatment journey into a discussion that I noticed you had previously joined and commented.
I think you can both celebrate life after pancreatic cancer and also connect with others who are on the other side of their journey, like your dad is, as many others may be experiencing or may have experienced similar trailing symptoms and might be able to provide you with support for your dad.
Would your dad have interest in joining Connect himself to connect with others like him?