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Abort chemo Rx & go straight to surgery while I am still Stage 1?
Pancreatic Cancer | Last Active: Apr 12 6:33pm | Replies (34)Comment receiving replies
From this 70 year old gal, I thank you for sharing!
I agree with you, it is pretty much rolling the dice…
The statistics say that even after surgery, there is a 75 % risk of recurrence, but if that is the hand we have been dealt, I need to play it . I just don’t want to risk not having the surgical option since that’s the only shot for a longer survival/cure.
Have they said they will have to do some reconstruction of your veins for you? What is the degree of branching - is it greater than 180°?
Do you mind sharing how large your tumor was at initial diagnosis?
I wish you the best and apparently there is no place better for you to be than Mayo.
Moffitt’s Cancer Center in Tampa Florida is in the top 10 so hopefully that will be good enough for me🤞
Good luck to us both!
Marilyn
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In reply to your questions, see these two excerpts from my late May CT scan results.
Vascular Contact - "Conventional hepatic arterial anatomy. The mass does not make contact with the celiac, common hepatic, or superior mesenteric arteries. The mass makes less than 180 degrees of contact with the superior mesenteric vein, causing subtle tethering of this vein."
Size of Mass - "3.8 x 3.1 x 2.7 cm. The mass previously measured 2.3 x 2 cm (series 3 image 29 of the comparison scan)."
This from my most recent CT Scan interpretation of 3 weeks ago: "Slight decrease in size of the mass in the pancreatic head/uncinate process with unchanged abutment of the superior mesenteric vein."
In sum, in my situation, my neo-adjuvant treatment has been positive to date. My tumor has shrunk somewhat, no further entanglement of large veins/arteries, no indication of metastasis, and biomarker levels have fallen significantly.
Indeed... good luck to us both. I'm curious to see what you decide tomorrow and what path you follow. Thanks.
Warren