Side effects after completing Chemotherapy

I had 10 rounds of Chem before Whipple, but no Chem after the surgery. The reason was the margins were good, and my CA19-9 dropped to less than 20. In hind sight, I should have insisted on some follow-up chemo. 17 months after Whipple, my cancer returned to the resection site and questionable lesion in my liver.

Thank you for your reply. Sorry to hear about the return. Good luck.

I chose chemo after my surgery though my surgeon offered it before as well but I declined since I just wanted to get that ugly tumor out of me. My margins are clear as well and my ca19-9 low as well, but I’m fully aware of those nasty cancer cells. My surgeon thought I would be taking chemo pills after my chemotherapy, but my oncologist said no since my margins are clear and my cancer antigen low normal (6). I did have an area on my scan near the hepatic artery that continues to light up and grow a bit but radiologist said it could be just due to positioning during scans. I won’t believe it though until I get the results of next scan which is next week. I also had a lesion in my liver from day 1 of my pancan diagnosis however radiologists say it’s just a hemangioma. Which chemo treatment did you take? I will be keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.

My friend did not. She had a wound that didn’t heal. I had chemo before, couldn’t have mor after due to infection/incisional wound didn’t close.

Folforinox (Oxalipalatin, Leucovorin, Irinotecan and 5 FU infusion).
At the same time I was enrolled in a clinical trial with Nivolumab.
Thanks for your prayers.

Thank you for your information. I appreciate the knowledge I didn’t have. Good luck to you and your friend. There’s just so much to learn about this horrible disease, more than I ever imagined. Thank goodness for this blog as the doctors didn’t give me what I’m learning here.
🥰

@judithbramson12 ,

Not everyone gets chemo or radiation after Whipple. I understand the rationale, but don't necessarily accept it. My opinion is based on my post-Whipple recurrence.

I posted a bit more about it beginning on page 2 here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mrna-vaccine-trials/?pg=2#chv4-comment-stream-header

It's about halfway down page 2, and begins with the discussion of "Total Neoadjuvant Therapy." There's a PDF attachment ("State‑of‑the‑art surgery for pancreatic cancer") to that post worth reading if you have time, but two highlights from it quoted at the bottom in case you don't.

May I ask stage you were to receive a clinical trial?

borderline resectable because the tumor too closed to the SMA. No spread noted. That is the reason I have 10 rounds of Chem first. After 6 rounds, the tumor shrunk to level that Whipple can be done. The oncologists want a total of 10 rounds before surgery. The clinical trial was done at the same time with the 10 rounds of chemo. I believe it was stage 2.5.

My initial symptom was just bloating and I needed to walk or stand up to pass some gas, and that is it. My PCP and GI all thought it was acid reflux and stomach problem, and prescribed ant-acid and acid reducers. But it did not helped much, and I asked for a scan of my belly, then had an ultrasound scan and the result was tumor at the pancreatic head. Follow-up CT, CA19-9 and biopsy proved to be cancer. Everything is now history. My advice is that many pancan may be first mistaken as stomach problems. Thanks to everyone who shared in this conversation.