Pancreatic Cancer Group: Introduce yourself and connect with others

@joealp1
I just read that histotripsy for the pancreas is not available outside clinical trials. Is that true? Did you have it as part of a clinical trial? Do you mind saying where you had it?
Can you give details on “significant impact on the tumor” such as percentage reduction or went from x cm to y cm? Also, how long was the actual procedure (anesthesia time)? Thank you for any additional info.

@lhlawrence
I'm an 87 year old man, diagnosed in Feb. 2025 with adenocarcinoma in head of pancreas, non-resectable. I've been on chemo, gemcitabine and abraxane, since March, every 2 weeks, so far no metastasis. My surgical guy, Mark Bloomston, with Lee Health in southwest Florida, introduced me to two potential procedures for shrinkage of the tumor: nanoknife and histotripsy. The latter is non invasive, using high energy ultra sound to generate gas bubbles in the tumor that burst, destroying the tumor in the process. It's new for the pancreas, has been approved for use in the liver by the FCC. I had the histotripsy procedure done in December, as an outpatient, recovery a piece of cake, and significant impact on the tumor. Final results await the next scan, but Bloomston very pleased. Your doctors should be aware of these options, nanoknife has been around for a while. Histotripsy for the pancreas is new and wasn't covered by my insurance. Could be a problem. I've learned a lot from ChatGPT, recommend it as a surrogate doctor for general advice and options for discussion with the real gdoctors. Hope this helps.

@joealp1
Thank you for letting the forum know about histotripsy for pancreas. I had it done on my liver July 2025 and still have a "clean liver". Worked better than the MRI radiation where the effect only lasted 5 months before lesions came back.

@lhlawrence
I'm an 87 year old man, diagnosed in Feb. 2025 with adenocarcinoma in head of pancreas, non-resectable. I've been on chemo, gemcitabine and abraxane, since March, every 2 weeks, so far no metastasis. My surgical guy, Mark Bloomston, with Lee Health in southwest Florida, introduced me to two potential procedures for shrinkage of the tumor: nanoknife and histotripsy. The latter is non invasive, using high energy ultra sound to generate gas bubbles in the tumor that burst, destroying the tumor in the process. It's new for the pancreas, has been approved for use in the liver by the FCC. I had the histotripsy procedure done in December, as an outpatient, recovery a piece of cake, and significant impact on the tumor. Final results await the next scan, but Bloomston very pleased. Your doctors should be aware of these options, nanoknife has been around for a while. Histotripsy for the pancreas is new and wasn't covered by my insurance. Could be a problem. I've learned a lot from ChatGPT, recommend it as a surrogate doctor for general advice and options for discussion with the real gdoctors. Hope this helps.

82 year old wife diagnosed with adenocarcinoma in head of pan reas. 3/4 " lesion identified.
Started 9 session of chemo in early oct. Finished Dec 26. Tumor reduced by half. PET scan identified no metastasis. Very debilitated and not a candidate for Whipple.
Any suggestions for removing tumor with minimal side effects that we know would not be a cure but significantly reduce the tumor's ability to metastasize?
Don't want to sit back and just do nothing.

@harji13 good bless for this information…I will mention this medicine to my NO and my oncologist when I see her next Tuesday…..today’s session was ok I go the 3 hour of pre chemo and one of my regular chemos/.. please , I will let you know I do on these two chemos… pvctom 🙏

@pvctom2021
Hi ,
I was diagnosed with pancreatic adenocarcinoma in June 2025 @ age of 47 after multiple visits to ER due to pain in my back just on back of my stomach. I was feeling gas trap /obstruction somewhere close to my stomach.In July 2025 had surgery- distal pancreatectomy, splenectomy plus portal vein resection and Left adrenal gland removed. I met my oncologist 2 wks post surgery. He repeated my CA19-9 which prompted him to order a CT scan of chest/abdomen and pelvis. My CA19-9 was 540 @ time of diagnose but went up to 16,000 in end of July 2025. CT scan showed cancer has gone to my liver. It was very devastating time to know that I have metastatic pancreatic cancer.
I was feeling very low. But then I started to pray to God that I want to see my children growing. I had 3 month CT scan follow up which showed significant improvement.
I believe in prayers and also thankful to God for family and friends to support during this difficult time.
So I am on full dose Fulfirinox every 2 weeks. Just had my 10 th round of chemo. I get 5 hrs chemo @ hospital then come home with a chemo bottle that is hooked for 46 hrs. I try to eat after short intervals to keep nausea away/ less intense. Also I drink ginger tea/ lemon water . It helps me with digestion plus to deal with constipation.
After 3 rounds of chemo I learned how to ease its side effects. I take advise of my dietitian and it helped me to stop loosing weight.
I ‘ll keep you in my prayers🙏🙏.

@suelannon
Thanks Sue for your wonderful reply… yes I am using my pocket rosary to stay close to God.. God put me here and God will take me back to Heaven…. but I will follow my oncologist and her wonderful staff… this is what God would want me to do… Thank you 🙏
And may God bless you
pvctom🙏

@pvctom2021 Good Morning ! My husband was diagnosed with Stage 4 Pancan in July of 2024 after having a Distal Pancreatomy. They put him in Palliative Care. He has had no Treatments. He is tired quite a bit but still able to go to the gym and we just came back from
a wonderful vacation in St Thomas & St John's. He also had a lot of anxiety and sleepless nights in the beginning but has settled in to enjoy each and every day that he has. We spend as much time as we can with friends and our children and grandchildren. None of us is promised tomorrow. I am sure that I will never know all of the emotions that my Husband is feeling but he is able to laugh now and enjoy himself a lot more than he was able to right after his diagnosis. He has also relied heavily on Prayer and that seems to bring him Peace .