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Surgical options for borderline resectable/locally advanced tumors

Posted by whilted @whilted, Jan 29, 2023

My mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in July 2022. She was not eligible for surgery at the time due to SMA encasement, so she was recommended to start chemotherapy. She just had her 12th infusion and will have her 13th and last infusion in about two weeks. Fortunately, her CA 19-9 numbers peaked at around 480 and have since come down to 18. We are heading up to Mayo Clinic in less than a month to see Dr. Truty, but I am super anxious about the consult. I am trying to focus on the fact that her CA 19-9 numbers have come back down to normal and her past two CT scans have shown shrinkage, but there is still SMA encasement, so I'm very worried. What if they tell us she's not eligible for surgery after all planned exploratory surgery? What options do we have after?

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mamarina | @mamarina | Feb 23, 2023
In reply to @whilted "My mom was on Folfirinox. She did 11 sessions of Folfirinox at full strength and on..." + (show)
@whilted

My mom was on Folfirinox. She did 11 sessions of Folfirinox at full strength and on her 12th session, they discontinued oxaliplatin. She did a 13th session of chemo before her consult at Mayo. We did not want her to have too long of a break before the next step.

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Aahh I tried the folfirinox
But it landed me in the hospital so they switched me to gemcetemine anyway Im praying she continues to respond well

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Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Feb 27, 2023
In reply to @whilted "Thanks everyone! I feel more at ease today, but my mom is still struggling with the..." + (show)
@whilted

Thanks everyone! I feel more at ease today, but my mom is still struggling with the situation. Hopefully she will bounce back and realize there’s nothing but positive news.

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@whilted, I wanted to check in to see how your mom is adjusting to the good news. It sounds like she was pinning her hopes on surgery and thus didn't hear the "good" of the good news right away. That seems natural to me. As a layman, who wouldn't just want the "thing cut out". Right? But surgery is no walk in the park.

It's promising that she can continue treatment closer to home and you have the confidence of Dr. Truty and Mayo Clinic supporting you and your family.

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whilted | @whilted | Mar 1, 2023
In reply to @colleenyoung "@whilted, I wanted to check in to see how your mom is adjusting to the good..." + (show)
@colleenyoung

@whilted, I wanted to check in to see how your mom is adjusting to the good news. It sounds like she was pinning her hopes on surgery and thus didn't hear the "good" of the good news right away. That seems natural to me. As a layman, who wouldn't just want the "thing cut out". Right? But surgery is no walk in the park.

It's promising that she can continue treatment closer to home and you have the confidence of Dr. Truty and Mayo Clinic supporting you and your family.

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She is adjusting well. We will be meeting with the radiation oncologist tomorrow and will plan to start soon. I’m just very glad chemo seemed to have done its job!

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