Question about surgery plan: Did you stop chemo months before surgery?

thawk32, apologies if I'm misinterpreting, but it seems to me that by opening this thread, you're saying, "I have some anxiety about the plan my surgeon has laid out" -- yet you continue to note that your surgeon is well-regarded (which implies that you have faith in his ability and in the treatment plan he has devised).

So I'm asking, with the goal of your getting whatever info you're seeking, could you clarify your intention in this thread?
-------- For ex., are you concerned that the surgeon's plan could be harmful to you?
-------- Or, are you asking whether anyone else has had the same surgical plan because you want to know about their side effects and recovery time and so on?
-------- Or, some other concern or question?

Also, please note that in your 1st post you wrote, "Then they want to stop chemo for 3 months to see if I have any spread of the cancer" but in a subsequent post you wrote "I won’t be totally off the chemo for three months. I will be taking a Chemo pill durning the five weeks of Radiation." I'm noting the inconsistency not to be mean but bc members can't provide useful info if they don't have a clear sense of your question / of the particulars of your situation. Thanks.

I’m not in anyway questioning my doctors treatment plan and was curious of other had this treatment. My Surgeon Carlos Fernandez-Del Castillo is a Professors of Surgery at Harvard University and has written over 300 publications.
He has traveled the world speaking on cancer as you can see below in the photo below. I mentioned I was getting surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital and someone asked if Carlos Fernandez-Del Castillo was my surgeon.
Look him up to see his credentials.
*See Photo Bellow.

I agree that Dr. Del-Castillo looks highly experienced. I have not had any treatment like this; I do not qualify for surgery or any type of radiation, so chemo's my thing, which means please take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. I think of all the things you've mentioned, it's your statement that "Then they want to stop chemo for 3 months to see if I have any spread of the cancer. If no spread they will schedule my surgery." I do see that you amended that timeline in a later post, so it sounds like you might be off treatment altogether for seven weeks, if I'm figuring correctly. Either way, that treatment gap would scare me. Pancan is extremely virulent, and it wouldn't take much to give it the opportunity to spread silently while you're waiting to see whether it spreads. Does your MD plan to track progress during those months--for example, with CT scans, CA 19-9 tests, etc.? Will he change course if those assessments show the disease is progressing? Also, do you have information on blood vessel involvement? Your main tumor is in the body of the pancreas, which is where mine is. Mine has wrapped around some blood vessels, which makes surgery impossible. I just wondered what your situation was.

They will be watching me closely during this time. My time off will be more like two months. I will be taking the chemo pill during the radiation for five weeks starting December 13th.
I will be getting scans during my treatment. I’d also mention I have a rare form of Pancreatic Cancer called Acinar which is less aggressive. This past year I took five weeks off from chemo to travel to China.

@thawk32 If I'm reading your original post correctly, all you really wanted to know is if anyone has had the same treatment plan as you; and I have not seen anyone answer that. I've seen long responses that did not answer your question and multiple questions to you. These are definitely the people you want to go to because they are all knowledgeable about pancreatic cancer, but sometimes, as they say, less is more. Sometimes it's too overwhelming. Wishing you the best.

I had the exact treatment at Mayo Rochester only I did the three week higher intensity radiation. The chemo pill is not the same treatment as the fulfirinox infusion is what you are trying to say and I get that. You take a capcetibine twice a day to help with the radiation.
It is a good treatment plan. When they went in for surgery my tumor was totally dead. It’s been 15 months and so far so good :). Good luck! You will be fine!

A break between treatment (chemo or radiation) and surgery is the norm, I believe. I did chemo, then 28 days radiation + weekly gemcitabine infusion, then another round of chemo, then a 4 week break before surgery. I have read anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks break recommended. After my break, I had dead tumor on PET and clear CT. Had surgery in July and all clear so far. Good luck!!

Thanks for all the feedback on your treatment plans. Today I went in for mapping for radiation. I’m looking forward to starting radiation on December 13th.

My two doctors are part of the dream team.

I stopped chemo 4 weeks before my Whipple surgery. I restarted chemo 6 or 7 weeks after my surgery… largely because I had to wait on my stomach to wake up from the surgery before applying the post surgery chemo.