PET Results - Pre-potential whipple treatments

I am so sorry. The whole journey with my husband ‘s pancreatic cancer has been a roller coaster ride. Up and down. One step forward, 2 steps back, etc. Every time we got our hopes up, they would be dashed again. He was diagnosed shortly after thanksgiving 2021. We thought he was stage 2 and he tried so hard through both chemo regimens and radiation. Then when they took him in to do the Whipple they found a tumor low in the abdomen. They said he’s stage 4 and no longer a candidate for Whipple. The molecular testing revealed no gene mutations or anything that would make immunotherapy a possibility. So back to chemo (which gave him no quality of life) or just enjoy what time he has left.

I am sorry for the emotions you must be going through. Do you have any options to possibly go to a Mayo Clinic for a second opinion?

@minimia I had my Whipple 6 years ago. I hear a lot of people talk about chemo and radiation before surgery. I was diagnosed early in May, 2014. A couple of weeks later I was at Mayo for a week of tests and I had my Whipple on June 5, 2014. My surgery took 8 1/2 hours. Surgery didn't bother me - I slept through the whole thing. My doctor didn't use stiches or staples. He put me back together with "super glue." The day after surgery he took the bandages of to check things out. I was waiting for him to put a new dressing on but he said it wasn't necessary. They had me on an insulin drip the first night. I was told it was supposed to promote healing. The nurse came in every hour to test my blood sugars. I remember having a very sore back. By 3:00 AM I told the nurse I had to get out of bed. She helped me up. I walked to the doorway of the room, looked down the hallway and told her I wanted to go back to bed. I was in the hospital for 7 days. I really wished I had brought a pillow with me to hold over the incision on the way home. Walk as much as possible before and after surgery.

I am sorry for the emotions you must be going through. Do you have any options to possibly go to a Mayo Clinic for a second opinion?

What stage were you when you had surgery?

@mamarina I was diagnosed as 2b. The tumor on my pancreas was the size of a small grapefruit and 1 lymph node tested as positive for cancer.

Thank you for your reply. How are you doing? Your whipple went well?

@mamarina For 5 years, the scans showed no evidence of disease. My scan at 5 1/2 years showed that my cancer had returned. That was almost 3 years ago. Because of complications from my chemo treatments in 2014, we decided to do 25 rounds of radiation and no chemo. PET scans in the last 3 years have shown that the cancer is not growing or spreading at this time.

You may have answered this before but what stage were you when you had the whipple?