Hi billyfeet,
I had two NETs on the tail of my pancreas both over 2 cms. They were both grade 2, well-defined tumors. I had a bout of pancreatitis caused by the tumors, and they found them. I had my distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy on March 6th, so, just over a month ago. They also took out 10 nearby lymph nodes. Of the 10, 3 of them were NETs. Because of the low grade tumors, my oncologists are thinking I might possibly be done with cancer; I go in today to see if they are going to do any adjuvant therapy to reduce the risks of recurrence. Fingers crossed.

As for whether I regret it, not at all. If we would have waited, the chance of metastasis to my liver or lungs was really high. It still could happen. But even being grade 2 tumors, they were growing pretty big. They had also started to move into my lymph nodes. Depending on the of type tumors, waiting can just mean growing and spreading. That was my experience at least.

As far as the surgery, he did a full incision, a full 12” long to go in and be able to run an ultrasound on my pancreas and everything to make sure he had the margins he wanted. I am not going to sugarcoat it. The first week in the hospital is pretty rough with a full incision. It sounds like it is less so with laparoscopy. You are managing pain and trying to get your digestive system running again. Still, no regrets. There are some people on here that have done day by day journals of their time in the hospital. I would read some of those as well.

Good luck. Sounds like you have a tough decision ahead of you.

Blessings,
Scott