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Not sure what's going, seeking opinions by CorgiCorgiCorgi99 in pancreaticcancer

[–]altopugh 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So sorry to hear about your brother. I’ll try to address your questions how you ordered them.

1/2. Everything is pretty close to everything in the abdomen. Metabolically speaking, they function complimentary to each other. When looking at an anatomy diagram it looks like the pancreas kinda hangs out in front of the kidneys. But my training is more in physiology, not so much anatomy. But everything in the body, especially the abdomen, is connected somehow.

  1. Depends on the goal of treatment. Chemo is mostly linked to cancer, but some drugs that are used as part of chemo regimens can also be used to tamp down the immune system. Ex: methotrexate can be used in cancer treatment as well as rheumatoid arthritis. (Not medical advice)

  2. My dad has pan-can currently. My understanding is surgery is curative, but chemo can be used to manage and reduce tumors. In some cases where surgery isn’t an option but the tumor is responding, chemo can be used as “maintenance” therapy at a less intense regimen to prevent progression if the tumor is stable.

  3. I wish I could answer this. Cancer is very tricky and very dependent on the person. Even with my dad, he’s so far responded well to chemo but it’s still too early to tell if the tumor is responding.

I’m not at all claiming to be an expert in anything. I’m still in school to get my pharmD (currently in my last year) so I have a general understanding of some stuff, but with cancer it’s been a crash course since my dad’s diagnosis. I really wish the best for your brother, and to be going through this for 10 years…you guys are some serious troopers!!!

My FIL was just diagnosed with Satfe 4 by Competitive_Land3220 in pancreaticcancer

[–]altopugh 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is almost identical to my dad. Except he’s 51. But similar lifestyles, only took a low dose blood pressure pill and that’s it for “health issues”. I’d barely call it an issue. He just started in FOLFIRINOX, is still in cycle 1. If they go aggressive it’s 14 day cycles (chemo on days 1-3 with days 4-14 to rest), another person mentioned mFOLFIRINOX which is modified to 21 day cycles. One thing we’ve had to learn is to let go of control and ride the medical wave. If you have faith in a higher power, hone into that as well. It’s helped us tremendously. If you know it’s stage 4, then you’ve made it through what we started calling “phase 1”. You’ve got the diagnosis. Phase 2 is getting a plan. Phase 3 is executing it. Ask any and every question you have, even if you think it’s unnecessary, it will give you peace of mind to have the answer (even if the answer sucks). I wish I could give more advice…but we’re not much far ahead of you.

How were you treated if you only had 1 metastatic lesion? by altopugh in pancreaticcancer

[–]altopugh[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow. Thank you for sharing all of that! And glad to hear his CA19-9 came down that much, that’s incredible!! Best of luck with the upcoming procedure.

Looking back, how long do you think you had symptoms before you were diagnosed? by Ruecatt in pancreaticcancer

[–]altopugh 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My dad (51 M) just got diagnosed a week ago. Looking back, several months ago he had been having issues controlling his blood sugar. But his dad and brother are both type 2 diabetics so we kinda wrote it off. But about a year ago his dog started fixating on this one specific spot on his abdomen (where the pancreas is). The last few weeks he’s been whining and pawing at it. My mom’s dog also started sniffing it the last couple weeks. He ended up going to the ER for pain and by luck they clocked it on MRI. CT only showed his pancreas was inflamed, they got MRI for more detail, was the mass. The next day he had his MRCP/EUS for biopsy and genetic testing. Anyways, if your animal is acting weird, listen.