My surgery is next week. They are taking out my spleen and part of my pancreas. I had chemo before surgery. The chemo helps shrink the tumor and any other chemo cells before surgery

I was diagnosed in March 2022 with Stage 2 PC. My doctor, (Dr. Douglas Evans - Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, WI) requires chemo and radiation prior to The Whipple. To date, I have completed 7 months of chemo and almost 6 weeks of radiation/chemo....with my final treatment to be Thursday, November 3rd. Next week I meet with Dr. Evans for a final examination and if treatments have progressed as hoped, he'll schedule a date for surgery.....tentatively looking like early - mid December. If all goes well, I should be home on time to receive my bag of coal on Christmas Eve!

My surgeon told me that it has been proven that chemo and radiation before surgery is beneficial as cancer is less likely to return if cancer cells are killed before surgery.

The “Alliance” clinical study comparing perioperative (neoadjuvant) and adjuvant chemotherapy shows better outcomes are achieved when perioperative chemotherapy is used. A phase III study of this trial is currently underway gathering even more data in support of the phase II findings which can be reviewed at this link-
https://bulletin.facs.org/2020/10/alliance-a021806-examines-perioperative-vs-adjuvant-chemotherapy-for-resectable-pancreatic-cancer/