Pancreatic Cancer Group: Introduce yourself and connect with others

@tomrennie I forgot to answer that his chemo “cocktail “ is Gemcitabine and Abraxane. Anyone else had success with this combination, or any comments on what we can expect? My husband has experienced extreme fatigue and nausea thus far, and after infusion no. 3, we are seeing hair loss.

@tomrennie My husband was diagnosed in March 2026 (after months of tests and scopes,etc. that were inconclusive) with pancreatic adenocarcinoma with spread to adjacent lymph nodes. He also has an obstructing mass in his duodenum which required placement of a stent. He began chemo in the hospital a month ago, and has just completed his third infusion. We are hoping the tumors can be shrunk enough to allow surgery, but at this point it’s doubtful. We are anxious for results of the first scan to check progress. But that’s still a ways off.

@shema Hi and welcome to Mayo Connect. How is your husband feeling?

@ginamaria Hi and welcome to Mayo Connect. It is great news that your pet scan on friday showed NED. Congratulations. You have to be excited? Your question about a detox center is an interesting one. I am curious if anyone else has any experience detoxing. What chemo are you taking? How long does it usually stay in your system?

@cjcurtis Hi and welcome to Mayo Connect. Your questions are very understandable. What is your husband's diagnosis? What chemotherapy is he taking?

@jimcaskowski Hi and welcome to Mayo Connect. What chemo is your husband taking? What side effects is he experiencing?

@suelannon Sue, you mentioned your husband’s surgery. I assume he had a Whipple. It sounds as though it only caused him further problems. My husband, age 73, has recently begun chemotherapy. He is most likely not a candidate for surgery because his tumors are encasing several arteries. I wonder if you feel chemotherapy alone would have been preferable or offered a better quality of life in your husband’s case. Sometimes I think even chemo alone diminishes the enjoyment of our time together. I would appreciate your insight. Thanks so much for sharing your journey.

@jimcaskowski Carol, " Hijacked by this disease " is exactly what it does. My husband was diagnosed in July 2024 as Stage 4. We didn't do much of anything for over a year except Scans and blood work and visits to the Oncologist and wonder how much time we had. Finally, this past winter we took two trips to the Caribbean with our son and is family . The first trip was wonderful and my husband did really well. The second trip was much harder on my husband but on his good days, we made some wonderful memories with our Grandchildren. My husband started to decline on this trip but he said it was the best thing we could have done ! My husband is now on Hospice and in the final stage of this horrible disease. My only regret through all of this is that I wish we had not worried so much about the scans and the bloodwork and that we took more trips with our Family and just had fun !

The surgery itself was tough on my husband physically as he had a lot of complications for 6 months after the surgery. He had two large abscesses that landed him back in the hospital and he had to have drains for 6 months. He had a staff infection that also put him back in the hospital and pneumonia that followed with a collapsed lung. He was a big strong man before all of this but he never got his strength back. I have to say though , we went to University of Penn in Phila and the Staff there were absolutely wonderful and could not have done more to help my husband. Very compassionate and caring .

That's good to know. Thank you.

Hello,
My name is Carol and my husband Jim was diagnosed with stage 2 PC this past January. He is 78, just finished his first round of chemo which he didn't tolerate well & is now scheduled for the Whipple Procedure May 21st followed by more chemo.
I'm frightened because I don't feel he understands or is physically ready for
the gravity of this surgery.
Our life has been hijacked by this disease & I don't see it getting any easier.