Pancreatic Cancer - No signs of spread, Whipple Candidate

Greetings mjennison: Sorry to hear about your husband's diagnosis... but it's good news that he is a candidate for The Whipple. It's my understanding that only 15% of PC patients are candidates.

I was diagnosed in March 2022 with PC....stage 2. I'll be 69 in November and for the most part....in good health. Recently finished 6 months of chemo (which I tolerated fairly well), just started radiation/chemo treatments that will go for another 5.5 weeks. I then meet with my oncology surgeon (Dr. Douglas Evan, Froedtert Hospital, Milwaukee, WI) for follow up. If all is well, The Whipple will take place early December. I've read that the recovery time is lengthy.... but that's Ok.....golf season doesn't start here in WI until April/May, and I won't be in any shape or mood to travel to the Sunshine state.

One thing that concerns me a is that during my 6 months of chemo, my tumor did not shrink. My doctor is not at all concerned about this. He said there's an outer shell around the tumor so on the CT scan it will still show a similar size but the cancer cells inside do get eliminated.....sure hope so. My CA19-9 started at 318 in March, then elevated to 813 after 5 treatments of Folfirinox, then decreased to 207 at the conclusion of the 6 months of chemo. BTW....the Folfirinox was not working so in May, my oncologist switched me to Gemcitabine/Abraxane.

Best of luck to husband. I know you, as a spouse have a tough job ahead of you.....hang in there. My bride of 45 years has been at my side every step of the way. She's a wonderful person; God has blessed with her.....she is strong and has a very positive attitude!

I am hoping and praying that my treatment will be effective so that I can have the distal pancreatectomy.
I was diagnosed in March 2022( a week after my 51st birthday) with stage IV PC (metastasized to my liver - 2 small lesions)
Folfirinox did not work for me at all. When I started with chemo I had 1 lesion on my liver, after the Folfirinox, there were 2 and the tumor was bigger
It is my 3rd month on Gem/Abraxane, my C19 count was 3597 when I started and is currently on 357. Starting again with my sessions on the 6th of Oct, then 13th and 20th. Then we will scan. Liver function test is also coming down nicely, so I am PRAYING that by the end of the year I will be considered for the operation
All of the best to all of you, stay positive and keep on believing!

Greetings mjennison: Sorry to hear about your husband's diagnosis... but it's good news that he is a candidate for The Whipple. It's my understanding that only 15% of PC patients are candidates.

I was diagnosed in March 2022 with PC....stage 2. I'll be 69 in November and for the most part....in good health. Recently finished 6 months of chemo (which I tolerated fairly well), just started radiation/chemo treatments that will go for another 5.5 weeks. I then meet with my oncology surgeon (Dr. Douglas Evan, Froedtert Hospital, Milwaukee, WI) for follow up. If all is well, The Whipple will take place early December. I've read that the recovery time is lengthy.... but that's Ok.....golf season doesn't start here in WI until April/May, and I won't be in any shape or mood to travel to the Sunshine state.

One thing that concerns me a is that during my 6 months of chemo, my tumor did not shrink. My doctor is not at all concerned about this. He said there's an outer shell around the tumor so on the CT scan it will still show a similar size but the cancer cells inside do get eliminated.....sure hope so. My CA19-9 started at 318 in March, then elevated to 813 after 5 treatments of Folfirinox, then decreased to 207 at the conclusion of the 6 months of chemo. BTW....the Folfirinox was not working so in May, my oncologist switched me to Gemcitabine/Abraxane.

Best of luck to husband. I know you, as a spouse have a tough job ahead of you.....hang in there. My bride of 45 years has been at my side every step of the way. She's a wonderful person; God has blessed with her.....she is strong and has a very positive attitude!

Greetings mjennison: Sorry to hear about your husband's diagnosis... but it's good news that he is a candidate for The Whipple. It's my understanding that only 15% of PC patients are candidates.

I was diagnosed in March 2022 with PC....stage 2. I'll be 69 in November and for the most part....in good health. Recently finished 6 months of chemo (which I tolerated fairly well), just started radiation/chemo treatments that will go for another 5.5 weeks. I then meet with my oncology surgeon (Dr. Douglas Evan, Froedtert Hospital, Milwaukee, WI) for follow up. If all is well, The Whipple will take place early December. I've read that the recovery time is lengthy.... but that's Ok.....golf season doesn't start here in WI until April/May, and I won't be in any shape or mood to travel to the Sunshine state.

One thing that concerns me a is that during my 6 months of chemo, my tumor did not shrink. My doctor is not at all concerned about this. He said there's an outer shell around the tumor so on the CT scan it will still show a similar size but the cancer cells inside do get eliminated.....sure hope so. My CA19-9 started at 318 in March, then elevated to 813 after 5 treatments of Folfirinox, then decreased to 207 at the conclusion of the 6 months of chemo. BTW....the Folfirinox was not working so in May, my oncologist switched me to Gemcitabine/Abraxane.

Best of luck to husband. I know you, as a spouse have a tough job ahead of you.....hang in there. My bride of 45 years has been at my side every step of the way. She's a wonderful person; God has blessed with her.....she is strong and has a very positive attitude!

What chemo were you on for six months?

Greetings Ivtexas......I was on Folfirinox from March until May; Folfirinox was not effective so I was switched to Gemcitabine/Abraxane which brought my CA19-9 numbers down a bit but my tumor did not shrink from either treatment. I just started radiation/chemo this past Monday and will continue with those treatments (5 days/week) until the end of October....hoping to see better results with this.