Pancreatic Cancer

[Smitters]

The antithesis of a lottery win?

Anyway, Mum has it, diagnosis last Wednesday, operation next Wednesday. Let's assume she survives the surgery and any post op complications. Shes 75, and has lost a stone in three weeks, so is right on the physiologica limit for coping with the trauma.

Can anyone give insight into life after diagnosis? Other than its usually brief?

Much appreciated.

[Dr Jekyll]

For the first week or so after the op she'll feel very rough, then start to feel better and gradually improve further over weeks and months. She may well have a very poor appetite at first despite the importance of eating properly to get everything working again. On family friend in this situation kept saying she'd eat properly once she was up and about and her family had trouble getting her to see that she wouldn't get up and about without doing what the doctors said.

She'll probably end up diabetic is she isn't already and she'll have to take lots of pills. Five year survival is about 20% so it's possible the cancer won't return, but the effects of missing a pancreas are permanent. A reasonably normal life is perfectly feasible at least for a year or two.


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[Smitters]

Cheers for the info. Good point re fuelling for recovery.

We're hoping for only partial removal of the pancreas but diabetes is a first world problem of course, by comparison.

Good really it's summer. She's 55kg now, so a cold winter could really make life harder.