Looking for experiences with jaundice and pancreatic cancer

Hi @kathy2000, I'm tagging @brookie82 @markymarkfl @riderfan @wjk @stageivsurvivor @jk77 @gardenlady1116 @denip and others who have experienced jaundice with pancreatic cancer.

You may also wish to review this related discussion:
- Has anyone had a ERCP to deal with jaundice and nausea?
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/has-anyone-had-a-ercp-to-deal-with-jaundice-and-nausea/

How are you and your husband doing?

Hi @kathy2000, so so sorry that your family is going through this. My husband did become jaundice prior to his diagnosis last September. It was resolved when a stent was put in to resolve the narrowing of his bile duct. It did the trick. He underwent 11 rounds of Folfirinox, along with Vitamin C IV, cleaned up his diet and lifestyle and started with with a functional medicine nutritionist who has been guiding him. He was scheduled for Whipple on April 17, but when the surgeon opened him up, there was more blood vessel involvement than anticipated so they had to abort the surgery. The surgeon did say the tumor itself had looked even smaller than what was seen on the scan a couple of weeks prior. We feel that all of the complimentary therapies he has been doing has been making him stronger and enhanced the chemo to have it shrink as much as it did. He is now undergoing mistletoe treatments, which has been used with much success in Europe for over 100 years and is currently being studied in trial at Johns Hopkins, to help shrink the tumor further since the only other option with conventional treatment is radiation, which his docs admit would provide limited benefit. If your husband is open to adding in some complimentary therapies, there are lots of options that can support his healing. Wishing you the very best.

Here is a rather complicated summation of mistletoe and hyperthermia treatments, with and without chemo.

I am not a medical professional.

We are in a rough place. The bilirubin did not change after the first FOLFOX treatment. He is still a bit yellow as well. We had treatment #2 last week. He’s ready to quit since the side effects are so rough.
Pancreatic cancer is so hard. I just don’t know…

Kathy2000,
I did Folfirinox last year and now this year (because it came back), I’m doing GAC. I’m almost 67 years old. There are so many times I tell myself I’m going to quit chemo after those first few days of recovery after my treatment, but I remind myself I’m here for my 2 young adult children and some how I keep on and I’m glad I did because those days get better. Drink lots of water after chemo to get those chemicals out of your system. I also started seeing a counselor that specializes in oncology patients. Maybe her dr could recommend someone to speak to? I pray for all pancreatic patients every week I go to church; you are on my list now.

Thank you for sharing your kind words and sharing your experience. Fighting the disease, treatment, side effects, and the mental demons all play a part when trying to push forward. You are so brave!

Blessings to you and thank you again. ❤️

@kathy2000