Started chemo for pancreatic cancer and already want to quit

hello sorry about my delay in responding, my sister is 58,has stage 4 metatastic, her first treatment was awful, her chemo is gemcitabine 1600mg, abraxane ivpbv200mg 40 ml,and she is doing a trial drug called elarglusib (9-ing-41). I don't know if all of these drugs that she took during her 1st treatment helped or not,but they completely knocked her out for several days and when she did get up she wanted to lay right back down. it's really hard seeing her like this, and she is suppose to go through this through June of next year every single week,and only feeling better and still not 100 percent 2 out of the 7 days a week, before she repeats the vicious circle again, it's gonna be hard for me to push her to go through all this, when I'm not sure it's worth it myself it seems to me that she is trading alot of good days for extra time on earth to suffer more...p.s. she is also losing to much weight and has such a restricted diet because she is also diabetic now. thank you for chatting with me it helps to talk to someone who has or who is going through the same thing she is. glad this group is here and so hopeful, god bless you all

I'm sorry to hear that your sister is having a difficult time with the chemo. I am a 1 year pancan survior as of Oct. 25. When my oncologist told me this I first of all was, this isn't something to celebrate, but the more I thought about it it IS something to celebrate because I'm still alive, feeling okay & still fighting. I remember before I had my first chemo, I was overwhelmed with all the medical jargon and tests that were happening so fast. If your sister is anything like me, she is probably still trying to process being given a cancer diagnois. I was so anxious about the possible side effects etc. fortunately I haven't had too many bad side effects. I agree, she needs to let her doctor know what side effects she is having, the amount of chemo can be adjusted as well as other things. My first round of chemo, the major side effect was sensitivity to cold on my hands,mouth & throat. I learned to wear oven mitts or gloves taking things out of the fridge or freezer, even wearing gloves in grocery store. I also had numbness in the hands & feet. I'm on my 3rd type of chemo, no sensitivity to cold, but still have numbness in hands & feet. I also feel very tired most days the first week of chemo, be sure to rest when your body tells you. I feel fortunate that I haven't had many bouts of nausea or diarrhea, although it has come close. Your sister may also experience "chemo brain", like brain fog, can't remember things. Some days are better than others.
My mucinous pancreatic cancer doesn't have a cure but hopefully can be managed. So I suppose I will be getting some form of chemo for the rest of my life, unless by some miracle they find a cure. The thought of this doesn't excite me at all, but my husband, children & the rest of my family want me to stay alive. I figure I can live my life and do the things I want when I'm feeling good and there are good days!
Some previous pancan patients had commented they had looked into pallative care & even hospice but that was usually when they had exhausted all types of treatments. Please don't give up, maybe you don't have the right chemo or it needs to be tweaked. My doctor told me the first chemo I was on was really hard on the bone marrow & it took a while for my body to recoup. It will be difficult for your sister because alot of the chemos affect every part of the body. I found out if I remembered to keep drinking, it helped flush out the chemo faster. At least that's what I thought. Tell your sister to hang in there. I hope she has at least a week to recoup before her next chemo. It helps having family or friends as a support system too. I was given a nurse navigator the first visit to my oncologist. The nurse navigator is there to call if you are having difficulties or need someone to talk to, maybe your sister has a nurse navigator too. Please take care of yourself as well as your sister. This is a new experience for your sister & you, as with any new experience it takes time.

Hi, I read your post and had some questions, my mom is starting Chemo next week, she is 83 years old and the Dr. did not stage her pancreatic cancer because she also has a mass in her kidney. We are trying to get everything ready for her first treatment and wanted to get advice on what worked best as far as cleaning up if she has vomiting and diarrhea. Any helpful suggestions as my Dad 85 will be her main caregiver and we will support them on the weekends unless one of us kids needs to come over and help care for her full time. We live about 2 hours away.

Thank you for your reply, that helps, I didn't think about putting a trash bag in the puke bucket but will do that, we will ask her about the pullups. We are having a family meeting this weekend to go over everything and get the house ready.
Her treatment is nab-paclitaxel/gemcitabine, the Dr. said because of her age she needed a milder chemo.

I thought of some other things. Fluids will be important if she has diarrhea and/or vomiting. I have always stayed with water, but others on this board have consumed electrolyte drinks and other beverages with success. Also, you may find that her appetite and food tastes vary daily or even hourly. At first, I drove my husband nuts trying to keep up with "Hey, this sounds good" or "I don't want that." We had all kinds of weird food in the kitchen! You might stock the kitchen this weekend and help your parents set up online grocery ordering. Finally, we have covered the couch I sit on with a waterproof mattress cover for any accidents. I haven't had any, but it's a good precaution.

Thanks for checking back in with the group, @tnt69. I so appreciate the concern you have for your sister, and I can understand how difficult it must be to watch her go through this process.

From some of the previous posts, you have seen how there is medications and other help available for some of the chemo-related side effects. Have you, or your sister, asked her doctors for any help with these symptoms?

we talk to the oncologist on Tuesday, but from the sounds of others in the group she will still be sick from what it sounds like,there is no chemo miracle drug for side effects, it sounds to me like chemo is very difficult on people and she is already so weak, I'm scared the chemo might be to hard on her and I don't think her body can take it, she has only had 1round of chemo and we were all very concerned that she wasn't gonna live through it. I can't find any information or numbers on the people that pass away from direct chemo being the cause of death, I'm just lost on everything right now, because if the chemo ended up causing her death I would feel guilty the rest of my life for taking her into continueing it , I don't understand why there are not stats on chemo deaths? the right decision needs to be made and it's hard for me to push her to do something that I am not entirely sure is he right thing to do