Please Help: PANCREATIC and LIVER CANCER - Cancer: Pancreatic & Liver Message Board

PANTHERA25 · 05-21-2006, 07:53 AM

Hi there,
I would like some truths and advice from families that have had/have relatives with PANCREATIC and LIVER cancer.

My 71 year old grandfather has just been diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer the cancer is a large one located in the tail of his pancreas it has not spread to the middle or the head of the pancreas as yet.

He also has 1 tiny spot of cancer developing on his liver.

He is in hospital at the moment getting his bloods right for a fine needle biopsy which will be done on Tuesday to see if it is malignant or just a cystic type cancer.

He CANNOT be operated on, he will die on the table he has been told by his specialists.

He has had colon cancer before when he was about 40 odd years old but it was successfully removed, then he had a triple bypass for blocked arteries and an artificial heart valve installed. Other than those problems he has been pretty fit and healthy. He has been a worker all his life.....didn't retire until around 63 years old!.

He cannot be operated on due to his heart now because he only has about 1/2 of his heart functioning normally.

He also takes heart medications....here is a small list of what he is taking:

WARFARIN (blood thinner)

NITROLINGUAL SPRAY (a nitrate spray for ANGINA) (in orange spray bottle with white cap)

LIPITOR (for cholesterol)

NOTEN (calcium channel blocker for blood pressure/heart regualrity)

SENNEKOT (for constipation caused by the above medications)

and probably a few other medications I am not aware of yet but these are his main ones.

I would just like to know if there are other people out there who have successfully beaten the above cancers with the similar health problems in his age group.

I would also like honest stories from families who have had relatives pass from these types of cancers, what pallaitive care was given, how to make a sufferer comfortable and pain free without marajuana and morphine, to be clear of conscience and what to expect....just incase he does not make it.

I am holding out hope and I am praying BUT I want to be prepared should my efforts be in vain.

I DEARLY HOPE HE RECOVERS AS HE DOESN'T DESERVE TO GO THIS WAY AND THE WORLD WILL BE LOSING A GREAT TREASURE.

Oh and here is a previous post on what we (family and doctors) THOUGHT it was but it didn't turn out to be.

[URL]www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=385193[/URL]

pants1 · 05-21-2006, 08:28 AM

i have recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and mine too is inoperable. My heart goes out to you and your love and compassion will help your grandfather to come to terms with whatever is happening and whatever results he gets from his biopsy. I am 58 years old and was told for a year that my odd bowels and pain were due to irritable bowel syndrome. It is now two months down the line and apart from loose stools i feel OK. There is a fairly new chemo that I was offered although it was made clear that it would not cure it but could do one of three things. 1. nothing would happen. 2. it could stop where it is and 3. it could in very rare cases shrink slightl.y This is the current drug used today and is only for people that cannot be operated on and whose cancer has spread.mine is a couple of spots on the lungs.If you go on [url]www.cancerbacup.org.uk[/url] they have a fab booklet called "understanding cancer of the pancreas and it contains everything you could possibly need to know. Pancreati cancer is quite rare and almost impossible to cure. I was given 6 months to two years but I have changed that in my head to two years to five!The drug is called GEMCITABINE (gemzar). I wish my letter could be less depressing, and maybe it is not going to be anything like that for him. If it is pancreatic cancer my advice is to be there when possible and tell him that when he wants to talk about anything you will be there for him,other than that im not very optimistic. I opted not to have the chemo because it meant so much to me to enjoy my family whilst I can, families and love for me is the best medicine and it comes without side effects. God Bless and good luck for Tuesday xxxxx

slk · 05-31-2006, 10:27 AM

My husband and I were notified that he had a lesion on his pancreas (tail and body) on May 31, 2005 (our anniversary). FNA biopsies were done: Stage IV, metastacized, inoperable. We were blindsided: My husband didn't fit the profile--he was an exercise nut, swam in college, never smoked, not overweight (at all), and we ate a healthy diet. We did everything possible. 4 different protocols of chemotherapy over 5 months. His quality of life kept declining with each chemo. Chris died on January 6, 2006 at the age of 58, 7 months from initial diagnosis. If we had known how the chemo drugs were going to affect his quality of life and that the outcome was inevitable, I don't think my husband would have gone the chemo route. We would have concentrated on making what time he had left the best we could. The chemo drugs were: Gemcitabine with Tarceva, then Gemcitabine-Xeloda (pill form of 5FU)-Taxatere, then Taxatere-Avastin, then Cisplatin-Irinotecan-Mytomycin C, then just Cisplatin-Irinotecan. The only protocol that showed anything with hope was the G-X-T. Slight tumor shrinkage and stabilization of disease, but the side effects were such that it was decided to try something different. Tarceva did absolutely nothing, in fact the tumor grew. Unbelievable that it has recently been approved for P.C. After the last protocol of Cisplatin-Irinotecan, Chris was "done". No more chemo. He just wanted the pain to go away. We had an intrathecal pain pump implanted plus oral narcotics and then I.V. narcotics. Chris finally went pain-free a week before he died here at home. Today is our 12th anniversary. I am absolutely devastated that he is gone. Make the most of the time you have left with your Grandfather. The spot on his liver is most likely a metastasis and would be classified with the pancreatic cancer, not as separate liver cancer. Chemotherapy has horrific side effects-don't let anyone spin it otherwise. I hope this helped, even though it is brutally frank.

PANTHERA25 · 06-02-2006, 04:50 AM

My grandfather has accepted what is happening to him, we have given him time to think and get himself together.

He wishes not to recieve treatment,and to enjot the time has left and he came over to MY PLACE, first time in a long time, he looked pale but ok. He sat down or a while and had a cuppa with us and a chat but he didn't say much....nan did most of the talking.

One thing that upset me immensly though was that when he got up to go he hunched over as he walked because of the pain he was in but he was trying to be brave you know like put on a brave face.....

It is very sad that he has to go this way but I suppose he has had a long life considering......I hop he ends up being my childrens guardian angel

.

slk · 06-02-2006, 09:04 AM

Pancreatic cancer is a very painful cancer. If your grandfather is not on pain medication already, he should be. My husband was on fentanyl pain patches and we kept upping the microgram dosage. He was also on Dilaudid pills. Pain meds are exactly what they are. There is not an issue of "addiction" because they are needed for pain. We eventually had an epidural done with a pain pump and that turned into a surgically implanted intrathecal pain pump that contained two drugs: dilaudid for pain and bupivicaine as an anesthetic. These drugs went directly to the pain receptors in the spinal column. The implanted pain pump was to try to alleviate some of the side effects which can include fatigue and constipation. My husband experienced severe constipation. That is a serious side effect that is difficult to get a handle on.
I hope this information helps. you can email me privately if you wish at [email]REMOVED[/email]. Take care, Sue

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