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Pancreatic cancer: How do I decide which hospital is best?
Pancreatic Cancer | Last Active: Apr 11, 2023 | Replies (27)Comment receiving replies
DF told me same thing. That the chemo treatments would be the same at Hartford Hospital , (which is where we started,) as at DF. I pushed back a bit, and asked if there were any pros to using DF, since it is renowned cancer center. My take is --things are the same in the beginning when you start treatment, and "chemo is chemo," but if there are problems along the way, DF would probably be a better place to be. It's about life balance, I guess, and where you want to be getting your treatments. Some don't want to drive to DF, and are more comfortable elsewhere, (with comforts of home, etc.) is the way the drs explained it.
Unfortunately, I think my husband has a very difficult situation, and the cancer appears to have spread to lymph nodes. All we can do is pray, and hope the chemo is effective. There are no trials or anything else DF can do. I'm praying every day at Mass. Thanks for all the input.
Replies to "DF told me same thing. That the chemo treatments would be the same at Hartford Hospital..."
Similar situation. Diagnosed in April and told we could have treatment a few miles from home. An Anecdotal lesson is to keep in mind the MRI equipment at DF is far superior to that of a local hospital. I expect the same is true of CT scans. Unfortunately, we did not realize that the 10 rounds of Folfirinox was ineffective until the DF pathology report came back after the DF Whipple.
Perhaps we would have been able to switch treatment months sooner If DF was in charge. Unfortunately, we had an overly optimistic local oncologist who guessed at shadows with the CT scanner radiologist—neither were pancreatic specialists. Local oncologist suggested my husband was NED! Too cavalier to read pathology report showing out of 31 lymph nodes were involved. Spouse is back in Boston for weekly treatment for another 6 months.
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I still have my doctor at DF in the loop. All my scans and reports are sent to them to keep them updated. I recommend you contact PanCan and they will put you in a database for any clinical trials that come available.
Sending out a my prayers. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻