Father's Recurrence After 4 Years

@tarameaghanqb Hi, Tara. I was diagnosed with Stage 2b adenocarcinoma in May, 2014. I had my Whipple in June, 2014 followed by 6 months of gemzar. I was NED for 5 1/2 years. Last December we moved and I had to find new oncologist. He ordered a PET/CT that indicated that I had a recurrence in the surgical bed. My doctor wanted to do radiation and chemo but because of Stage 5 chronic kidney disease, we decided not to do chemo, just radiation. I had 25 rounds of radiation. I have been back to Mayo twice since my radiation. At this time the tumors are not growing so there will be no treatment. I will have a PET/MRI scan every 3 months to monitor my progress. If the tumors start growing, I will need chemo. Because of my kidney problems, I will have to have dialysis after each chemo treatment. Sorry I couldn't answer more of your questions. I have no idea what the future holds for me, but I thank God for every day of life. I am praying that things go well for your father

Hi @tarameaghanqb, how are you doing? How is your dad?

Hi Tara. I will try to keep this short. In 2012 I was told I had a cyst on the head of my pancreas, biopsy showed it was non cancerous but still needed to have whipple surgery.
After surgery was just told it was pancreatic cancer. Radiation and chemo followed.
In 2015 I had my regular 3 month CT scan and showed a nodule in the right lung and biopsy showed the PC had metastasized to my right lung, chemo and cyberknife radiation followed.
In 2018 new nodule showed up in right lung again and after 2 biopsys they were unable to say it was cancer but Doctors decided to do cyberknife again and stopped it from growing.
Now in 2021 after PET CT scan something suspicious showed up in the surgical bed and new nodule in right lung, next week biopsys on both and see where it goes. I'm now 69 years old, 9 years and 5 months from original diagnosis and not ready to give up yet.

Hello @wrolsen and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect where members trade giving and getting support. Thank you for sharing your PC journey. I am sorry to hear that 2021 has brought you another biopsy. I am glad to read you are not ready to give up yet!

Will you please come back and share what you learn next week?

Amanda, thank you for the form where we can share our journey and support other through their's. I belong to another PC support group where our motto is NEGU (Never Ever Give Up). I would like to return after I get the results of my biopsy and share the results and where this journey will lead me.

@wrolsen NEGU is officially my new favorite acronym. I will look forward to your return and update. Sending you the best this next week!

My husbands situation sounds very similar. Diagnosed stage 2B in Jan. 2017, several weeks of chemo followed by Whipple in May of 2017, followed by more chemo. NED until Jan 2020 a tumor was found in the void that was created where the original tumor was removed, was not in the liver or pancreas. He had more chemo and 5 days of radiation. Again NED. In January 2021 during a routine follow up scan, a spot on his right lung that they had been watching for 3 years looked different. They were sure it was a lung cancer, and not pancreatic, but the biopsy proved them wrong, it was pancreatic cancer, they removed 10 percent of his lung and 27 lymph nodes, all the lymph nodes were clear. We’re waiting for our appt with his oncologist to see what the next step is. We have many of the same questions.

@baileycody and @wrolsen, just following up.

@wrolsen - might I ask about the results of the biopsy and what's next for you?
@baileycody - I'm so glad that the lymph nodes were clear. What did the oncologist suggest going forward?

We met with the oncologist last week and the surgeon today and they both agree that since all the lymph nodes were clear and they got clear margins there is no need for chemo or radiation. We’re back to our schedule of blood work every 6-8 weeks and scan every 4-6 months. Keeping our fingers crossed 🤞

Always good news to have routine bloodwork and scans....We love STABLE!