im gonna make this post short as possible,my husband has been losing weight and had bouts of diahria for 12 days-i new somthing was wrong made him go to his primary so she ordered blood work came back the next day slightly elevated pancrease enzymes so off the next day for a ultrasound while in the room the tech said im gonna get the radiologist to look at this he came in and told my hubby there is a mass on the head of his pancreas,on the way home within 10 minutes the doctors office called his cell to tell him about the mass-he was like ok so he got home and then left for work the doctors office had me call him on his cell to tell him to come home they want a ct scan done that day.so the next day the doctors nurse called me at 7"45 am and said that his primary dont work fridays but she is coming in today to meet w/him. we went and she wants him to go to dana farber in boston,mass to see a specialist-we are gonna meet with the surgeon tomorrow... i'm so terrified because we really have not got any answers,we found out from his mom that his grandfather died from pancreatic cancer------i feel like this waiting is driving us nuts-somtimes i think that not knowing is worse than knowing,my question is is this a normal proceager before being dianosed w/cancer?
Dee, yes this is normal procedure and they are being very proactive which is great. If there is a tumor and it hasn't spread, they will want to do surgery asap. It could also be a benign tumor,which would also need to be removed but not as urgently. Good luck to you and I hope and pray he is ok!
You are fortunate the docs are getting right to it. What they are doing is normal but so many people get jerked around for long periods of time before the doctors do anything. Good luck
thanks--its 6 am and getting ready to go to boston,my stomach is turning.i am so glad these doctors are on this quickly we are meeting with his surgeon today. lets see how this goes.
UPDATE: what a waste of time in boston we got 0 done today and its very frustrating
lets see it took them 1 1/2 hrs late calling him into the room, then the surgeon came in with his student had the report from my husband's primary and from the radiologist--the dr told my husband that the report was vage and he wanted his radiologist in boston to read the ct scan and he quoted that my husband looks healthy and we can go home--we where like WHAT!!!! OH AND HE WILL CALL US IN 1 WEEK no follow up appointment or anything---god do i understand why people get so angry cuz they do get jerked around,,,, the dr saw my husband less than 5 minutes---i just cant believe this
Dee, I am so sorry to hear that. Incredible. So he is going to have ANOTHER doctor read the scan? I don't think I would pay them for this visit. On the good side, I like that he wasn't overly concerned. You might want to stay on top of all of them. Get the radiologist's name and number to be safe. You might just want to call that doctor and say that your primary doc felt this was urgent. How frustrating.
I would be so livid. What a stupid remark to say someone looks healthy and therefore nothing is wrong. There are doctors and then there are idiots. What a rude person.
we both felt he didnt care and he never let my husband finish what was wrong-like his symptoms he cut him off and said he looks healthy. and this surgeon was voted in 2009 to be the best surgeon around. when we left boston my husband told me he does not care what this *** says that there is something wrong.he didnt let my husband tell him he is so tierd and had a strange rash appear on his side and leg...i will be this surgeons worse nightmare because this is my husbands health. i will be calling his primary on monday,,any good advice on how to get answers from all of them?
I have been down this road many times. My advice is to be persistent and firm but not angry. I have found that the best thing is to ask to speak to the nurse. Rarely will you get the doctor, but if you can get the nurse usually you will get better info and he/she will go to bat for you in getting the answers you need. Ask for good times to call. Also, goggle the docs on the internet. It helps give you a little more background info and what other hospitals they are affiliated with, in case you need to go someplace else. Good Luck and keep us posted!
I don't blame you for being so angry, but I agree just keep demanding that they keep doing tests (Nicely) I was getting pretty upset that things weren't moving fast enough for my mum as they firstly put her symptoms down to hepatitis...I guess this was understandable as "pancreatic cancer is supposed to be a "Rear" cancer... although after being on this board that doesn't seem to be the case at all....
They couldn't see my mums tumor on a CT scan and had to use an endoscope as the pancreas can be hard to see clearly as it's well behind the stomach.
Suggest this to your primary doctor...
Good Luck, Jan
this has been a crazy week and its only wensday,called the doctors office on monday to see if the radiology dept read the ct and i was informed they cannot upload it,i cant believe this happened,i asked why and they said it was put on the wrong format how can this be when the original radiologist is one of there guys.....then i was also informed that the surgeon left to travel and will not be back till after oct 15th-so before he left he told the front desk to schedule my husband for a mrcp which is for today,,,and i asked if they find something who is gonna tell us and she said she will emAil the surgeon and he can call hubby,,,,,,,by the way its not dana farber they wouldnt take him till he has a canncer diagnosis its one of the hospitals they are affiliated with,is this normal all this stuff happening? i hate to see what happens if he is diagnosed with cancer (which im praying hes not) THIS IS SOOOOO FRUSTRATING...............ERRRRRRRR
The MRCP is definitely something they would do just to get a better picture, especially if the CT doesn't tell them much. They may also order a PET scan for an even clearer picture. You're doing a fantastic job...keep holding them responsible. They need to respond to your husband's needs. Good luck on his procedure today.
I'm not surprised that you getting so upset...Just "KEEP ON PUSHING"...
How incompetent can you get !!! How's your husband dealing with all this..
You both must be so worried at not having any definte answers...
Let's hope that it all gets sorted out very soon & they either start some treatment or he gets an all clear result..
Let us know how things progress, and I'll keep my fingers crossed that you get some answers really soon..
we went yesterday and he had the mrcp,,,now just waiting on the results.
"Good Luck" guy's ...I hope it's good news....
When do you next see the Doc to get the results or do you have to wait on them to let you know?
I know it's a really "Studid" thing to say: But try not to worry, how's he feeling?
I just took my mum to look at some curtains that she wants for her bedroom...and I have to take them to an awards ceremony at the local council tonight...I'm getting a bit tired with trying to help run the family business, caring for mum & dad and still trying to make time for my family !!!
I'm trying hard not to get near breaking point...but it's hard sometimes
Never mind, I'm sure I'll keep on going....I'm just very tired & not sleeping well..
Please let me know what happens & whatever it may be...you have this group here to help support you.
Re: found a mass on my husband's pancreas 
