Pancreatic Cancer Group: Introduce yourself and connect with others

If your spleen is to be removed, talk to surgeon about vaccinations needed prior to or soon after surgery. Immunity will be low so not too much interaction with anything that can pass you bugs. Eat carefully - fresh food; no leftovers for a while, no raw food, no salads in restaurants. All the best.

Thanks for the info and advice. I have resumed some of my usual chores, especially with our livestock and look forward to more contact with them when allowed post surgery. Your input is valued and appreciated. Best wishes to you and your husband for the new year.

I think the fact that there are so many cancer patients in developed countries is explained by living conditions, non-ecological living, stress, etc. The treatment of cancer patients is completely free of charge in Turkey, including everything.

I think some of this is that healthcare is better in some countries than others. I have read reports about national healthcare in Canada being so slow that people that can afford it had been going to the us for services. MRI's, CT's and other things like knee replacement and even x=rays. Things have slowed down some in the US with the expansion of healthcare over the last 10 or so years. But if a country has poor health care then cancer will not be found so there will be fewer cases diagnosed. And if a country has really good health care then more cases will be diagnosed. Maybe this will not account for all the difference but it would a bit I think.

My husband had a distal distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy in Dec 2023. It was Stage 2B because the tumour was attached to the stomach. Recovery from surgery took about 2 months - I think it is because a wedge was cut off the stomach and there was healing there too. He carried around a drain (tube and bag) for about 3 weeks. About 66% of the pancreas was removed. All the lymph nodes, one adrenal gland, some abdominal fats and the spleen was tested negative for cancer. He has been on chemo for almost a year now - first with Folfirinox then Gem-Abraxane.
He lost weight in the 2 months and surgeon put him on Creon. He lost more weight once chemo started - all together 10kgs and he is not a big man so it was pretty scary. Good news is he has now regained all his weight, eats well, exercises and travels. Quality of life is what you make of it. The doctors know the science and the medicine but how you respond is entirely yours and being positive goes a long way. Just expect that recovery will take a little while and wake up each morning expecting to be better. All the best.

That's great that your wife keeps you going! Don't forget to read the posts in this discussion from others who have had this surgery.

--Recovery after distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/recovery-after-distal-pancreatectomy-and-splenectomy/
Keep posting with your questions.

I’d like to say “welcome”, but really is it a welcome you rather not have? - ha ha!
I went straight to my distal and spleenectomy surgery upon diagnosis in October 2022. 1 lymph node involvement and tumor was 2.4 or 2.5 cm so I was stage 2. I had recently turned 65 and used to walk a lot, but had many of the “comorbities” as they say; high blood pressure, borderline diabetic, cardiac arrhythmia (ventricular tachycardia) induced by extreme stress, sleep apnea, asthma. Had my doubts about coming out of surgery, but I did; just make sure they take as much as pancreas as is appropriate. In my case they took 75%. I too lost weight almost as much as you but most of I lost after surgery due to complications of a leaking pancreatic duct and fluid in lungs (walk a lot after surgery). I put it all back on since :(. Eat things you try not to eat too much I’m sure like ice cream or frozen yogurt or donut etc.Good luck in surgery. Where will it be done?

Thanks for the welcome.
I'm feeling fairly good. Dealing with neuropathy and having a difficult time with that. Hopefully it will clear up in the not to distant future.
Due to other side effects I've lost about 50 pounds since my treatment began in July. The weight loss seems to have stabilized for now. I do have a hard time eating however. Just not interested in food. My wife keeps me going though and we have pretty good control over it now. Looking forward to hearing any advise.

Thank you

Hello @donaldridener and welcome to Mayo Connect. Your post caught my attention when I read that you are taking Octreotide injections. These are usually given to patients with NET tumors. Did your biopsy reveal that your pancreatic cancer was a neuroendocrine tumor?

If so, Connect has a discussion group specifically for NETs. Here is a link to those discussions,
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/neuroendocrine-tumors-nets/
There are many members in the NET group who have tumors on the pancreas. I look forward to hearing from you again. Will you continue to post with any questions or concerns?