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Treatment options for pancreatic cancer stage 4?

Pancreatic Cancer | Last Active: Apr 4, 2023 | Replies (59)

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@smurf343

You may not want to hear this - I certainly didn't when my husband was diagnosed, but it is almost impossible to know what to expect. Patients responses and side effects are so varied and I haven't found any research to predict which path they will take. Some are almost debilitated by folfirinox and some are only fatigued with some neuropathy - same thing with gemcitabine/ abraxane. Some have an excellent response to one or the other or both and some do not. I have found nothing to predict who will react in which way.
While researching, I kept running across posts saying Don't Lose Hope! but my thoughts were always - It's stage 4 PC, there is almost no hope. Here we are 6 months later. My husband has responded very well to folfirinox and feels much better than he did before chemo. We have found a doctor willing to try innovative treatments (and who also isn't convinced the spots on the liver are mets) and I finally have some of that hope that I had initially lost. That is our 4th opinion.
I think the best advice I can give you is to do all the research that you can but keep in mind that PC's path is very unpredictable, don't lose hope as you read all those posts with unfavorable outcomes, get as many opinions as you can (not all doctors have the same knowledge), contact pancan.org and get genetic testing done, spend your time together doing the things you want.

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Replies to "You may not want to hear this - I certainly didn't when my husband was diagnosed,..."

Always stay hopeful and positive. I know it's not possible all the time. Every person is going to react to the treatment in a different way. I am on my second recurrence. The protocol is suppose to be three weeks of chemo followed by an off week. My ANC has a very hard time bouncing back so I get chemo every other week. As far as side effects. I am tired all the time, but not much other than my hair falling out. My head is buzzed. I know when I stop chemo it will grow back so no big deal. Except it has been a little cold here. I always wear a hat.

This is very good advice. At this point in my life, it's hard for me to stay positive at times knowing what a terrible cancer I have, but I really try to focus on my family and my relationships and to be thankful for each day.