JMS

Sending you best wishes, Clucido, for a comfortable surgery, pre and post-op. You may not want a 3-course meal right after surgery, but that day will come when you will crave good food again.

JMS,

Abraxane is helping , the steroids I get just keep me up for days, and My life just changed with a snap of a finger and My family said it is not my fault i got sick , I had to go out of work . And I am not allowed to be be back . Until I get more results and get stronger , so I am out for a long while. Hope you are feeling ok today and Happy Mothers day to you

Thanks for sharing your understanding and experience - that will be helpful to me through my journey. good luck with yiour new treatment - what will it be?

Hello JMS,
My husband went from stage 2 to 4 on Gemcitibine 3 months into treatment
The numbers went from 8 to 16 to 45and to 125 ,although the num,bers are small
I guess it is still bad That is why i am worried now with the numbers rising again
Doc said we will watch the numbers
In Arizona there is a group of docs that do clinical trials althogh I believe Johns Hopkins also does, His trial would be parp inhibitors only and would be the last option if the chemos do not work,Its alot to take in Overwhelming at times
Scottsdale Health care system-Scottsdale Arizona/T Gen
Were you off chem for how long? I believe my husbands Folfox does not have ironitican in it and yours did.
Iheard that was tuff to take
Country/

Yes that does help me with the creon.I once read that some people take as much as 15 to 20 a day.
I thought maybe I should be taking more than 2 a day,but since each pill is 24,000 units,I guess i'm good. Thanks, Zoe

Also,I forgot to mention....I know it sounds crazy,but when I am getting ready to go out to dinner I put a piece of masking tape on the top of my hand to remind me.Hey..whatever works ! Zoe

JMS, Thank you for sharing your journey with all of us. I know how much of a struggle it can be at times, but you know that the best thing is to fight with a passion everything that this disease tries to do to you. I can see from your message that your are certainly a fighter. I saw a quote once, but the author is unknown:

"Persistence and determination are far better qualities in a person, more so than talent and education, because the world is full of unemployed, talented, and educated, derelicts."

You can find these people in the unemployment line, but the people who are persistent and determined will take the job that pays far less than what they were making, just to get their foot in the door.

I am wishing you the best JMS. You know that we are all out here for you. Don't ever give up hope.
Best wishes....
Russ

My cancer is smaller than a golf ball in the main body of the pancreas with a haze around it. The doctors are doing chemo and radiation to get the haze to go away and shrink the cancer so it is away from any blood vessels more before the operate and cut it out. I don't know what the chemicals are going to be yet, but will know Tuesday. They are hitting it hard I think to make sure I have the best chance of getting it gone. They gave me anti-nausia pills to take before I go each morning to get treatments. I have 3 days of chemo and 5 days a radiation treatments a week.

Hi! This is my second week of chemoradiation. Feeling tired, abdomen feels like a sunburn on the inside, nausea taking zofran, constipation, feet swelling and tingling in fingers. Biggest problem is my eating, I can eat only small frequent meals because I get full fast and I need to eat low fiber foods. How was your eating after surgery and during treatment? Will my eating get better after treatments completed, I get very frustrated. Hope, your doing well.

Thank God for pain med.s. I've learned to not be shy about asking! If the pain sort of gets ahead of you it's a longer and harder battle to get past! Hope your next two procedures go well! Hang in there!

I read that you are having another procedure this week. Very best wishes and I do hope you will journey through it without complications or difficulties.

Hi! Thank you for your information on your journey with radiation and chemo. My biggest concern is losing more weight. I eat small portions several times a day. Eating eggs, applesuce, pb, turkey, chicken, cottage cheese, pb crackers. Cannot drink the milky drinks they sit in stomach. Trying to find different drinks that will increase my calories. Drinking a little gatorade. Thanks again. Any suggestions on drinks.

Hello, figured I'd follow you because we are neighbors and not too far away. You are my moms age, whom I'm caring for now. She has been on Afinitor, but before then has tried a bunch of different treatments and experimental studies. Afinitor for her NET seems to work the best right now. We has liver spots as well, but mainly has been in a lot of pain. Have you been to the PANCAN symposium that is held in DC every year? I went last year and it was very very helpful!

Good luck next week, I am praying for you.

Hello. I want to wish you the best with your biopsy. I read that you have a pancreatic cancer that may have spread to bone. My dad has a pancreatic cancer that has spread to the liver. If you find out that you have a stage 4 cancer, and I can point you to any information, feel free to ask. One of the best places I found to ask questions is the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, that offers one-on-one support, and maintains a database of doctors with experience in this type of cancer if you need a second opinion. http://www.pancan.org/
I hope your bone issues turn out to be nothing.

Just started one first dose of chemo, treatment went well. Later I was fatigued, acid in my stomach seemed worse. mouth dry difficulty with swallowing at first. During the night I had pain in my bladder, which was relieved after I urinated. It felt like the chemo was moving thru my body. Also, taste buds off. Second day after treatment feeling better. Stomach still a little upset. This is just the beginning of my second journey. After surgery I couldn't eat so I have been on TPN IV since Dec. I have been eating small amounts
for about 1 month and 1/2 but, it's the acid bile that keeps me from eating and drinking more, even started a new med. has helped a little. Next week they will be weaning off TPN, I'm a little nervous. In april I will be starting chemoradition for 51/2 weeks. I hope I can keep my nutricional status up. Any suggestions.

Hello there friend I just wanted to stop by and wish you the very best with fighting your cancer ) Hoping your having a nice Monday

Thanks for your response to my question about radiation enteritis. My husband has an obstruction in his bowel as a result of the radiation. He has had a drain put In place but is still so sore and weak he can hardly get out of bed. It's really discouraging. He finished his radiation last April, so I would have thought he'd be better by now. How long did it take for you to get ov the enteritis once you stopped treatment?

Hi JMS; The miracle which got me out of that mold filled house was that as the adjuster was talking to me, although I was unable to follow his words, his skin began to turn grey. My addled mind understood was not a good thing and, after he left, I took me and a small carry on suitcase out of that house. When I began to feel better (it took about 8 days before my body calmed down a bit) and told him what I'd seen. He poo pooed me but was happy something had made me exit the place. Eleven months later he was diagnosed with the exact same cancer I'd had except that his squamous cell presented in his throat while mine was behind my anus. Once he had decided to treat conventionally, I became comfort and courage for him and his wife in ways from choosing a doctor, to flying out of town to see a better doctor who could find the primary tumor, to getting his teeth worked on and then how to get through each day and and past the treatment. We are now, sort of extended family to each other. Isn't it funny, Little Sister, how saving one life so easily leads to saving another, yes?

GOOD MORNING JMS,
IF I FOLLOW YOR QUESTION, I THINK I'M IN THE SAME BOAT. MY TREATMENTS OF 7 CHEMOS AND 33 RADIATIONS WERE FINISHED ABOUT 6 WEEKS AGO, AND I HAVE TO WAIT ANOTHER 6 WEEKS BEFORE I CAN TAKE SCANS AND SEE IF THE CANCER IS ALL GONE......I WAS EXPLAINED THAT THERE WOULD BE A LONG WAITING PERIOD, SO I'VE BEEN PREPARED TO DEAL WITH IT........MY PROBLEM IS NOT THE WAITING, MY PROBLEM IS THE PAIN AND DISCOMFORT IN THE MEANTIME. .......IT SEEMS MY DRY MOUTH , BLISTERS, CUTS, SORES ETC IN MY MOUTH DON'T WANT TO LET UP....YOU WOULD THINK BY NOW THINGS WOULD HEAL.
ANYWAY, I HOPE THAT HELPS.....................GOOD LUCK TO YOU,
TRY TO THINK POSITIVE THOUGHTS ABOUT IT.......PICTURE IT BEING THE BEST NEWS YOU COULD EVER HEAR, AND PICTURE CELEBRATING IT.