Potential serious health news

[mystang52]

I AM NOT A DOCTOR, and have no medical background. I think some encouraging news from this is that whatever you have is confined to the pancreas, presumably making treatment more targeted. Sending healing thoughts your way.

 

[Nemo2]

Good luck Tiger...hoping you can beat this, (as I came to call it, in its many manifestations, after losing a wife & friends), Godawful disease. All my best wishes to you!

 

[tuckeverlasting]

Thanks so much for the update, Tiger. Hope you know everyone here is pulling for you and sending you our very best thoughts. It is hard to imagine what you are experiencing right now but I know it has to be rough. The human spirit can endure almost anything as long as hope--"the thing with feathers -That perches in the soul -" lives within us.
Wishing you and yours peace and health, and a better 2021.

 

[EastWest Gal]

I'm a retired pediatrician, so no expert in this. The type of cancer is based on the originating cells. The type you have comes from the cells that produce insulin and glucagon, and is slow growing with a much higher survival rate. The American Cancer Society has info about NET of the pancreas, and survival rates are very high. Quite encouraging, especially with apparently no local spread to spleen and lymph nodes. I'm sorry you have to have the drain in until after Christmas. Take care of yourself. Glad to see you are moving around more and more.

Remember, Steve Jobs treated his cancer with acupuncture and juicing and delayed surgery until it had spread. You didn't do that.

 

[Vincenzo Corleone]

Wishing you all the best and a long, healthy, happy life ahead.

 

[CindyBlue]

Had appt Friday. Could not remove drain tube because Amylase levels (enzymes) and volume of discharge way to high. Will review again on Dec 30. Means Pancreas has not healed up from surgery yet and leaking.

Pathology showed cancer, neuroendocrine tumor or NET. In the laymans explanation by the Dr. "not the Patrick Swayze/Alex Trebek type of cancer, the Steve Jobs type. They had 15 lymph nodes, all negative, and the spleen was negative. Still trying to look at what this means, but I know I have to do CT scans approximately every 6 months for the next 3-5 years to see if it pops up in Pancreas or other areas (stomach, liver, lungs, etc). Still some research to do to see a little better what this means.

Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers.

I"m glad you finally got an answer as to what you have. Hope you keep us updated! Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers!

 

[Tiger8693]

Remember, Steve Jobs treated his cancer with acupuncture and juicing and delayed surgery until it had spread. You didn't do that.

Thanks for your input. I have not done the reading yet about Steve Jobs, but had heard that for whatever reason he delayed treatment and therefore made things worse. I am pretty happy that I seemed to catch it early, and that it does not seemed to have spread as of yet.

Beyond the medical and health aspects, now I have to re-evaluate my plans going forward for retirement. With constant CT scans, and the potential for additional findings and surgery(s) in the future and the prospect of high medical costs (I was a very low user of Dr's/Health Insurance up to now), I may need to plan working until medicare. More to think about.

 

[MarieIG]

Had appt Friday. Could not remove drain tube because Amylase levels (enzymes) and volume of discharge way to high. Will review again on Dec 30. Means Pancreas has not healed up from surgery yet and leaking.

Pathology showed cancer, neuroendocrine tumor or NET. In the laymans explanation by the Dr. "not the Patrick Swayze/Alex Trebek type of cancer, the Steve Jobs type. They had 15 lymph nodes, all negative, and the spleen was negative. Still trying to look at what this means, but I know I have to do CT scans approximately every 6 months for the next 3-5 years to see if it pops up in Pancreas or other areas (stomach, liver, lungs, etc). Still some research to do to see a little better what this means.

Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers.

Continuing well wishes. Negative in the lymph nodes - is a really good thing. (That was the info I was waiting for when I woke up.)

With regard to the drain removal; I also did not get drain removal at first post-surgical visit(s). For my last procedure involving a drain in March (which BTW was relatively minor in the scope of things) it took me a month before they removed that.

 

[eytonxav]

While not what you wanted, it sounds promising that you caught this early and appears to be something with a good outcome down the road. Wishing you all the best, stay strong and keep up the positive attitude.

 

[finnski1]

Excellent progress!
Keep up the diligence on all aspects of this.

 

[38Chevy454]

Thanks for the update. It does seem good news your cancer is apparently limited to your pancreas only. Don't stress over the drain, just let it do what is needed. Your doctor will know when time is ready for removal.

 

[Time2]

I fully appreciate the desire to limit usage of powerful pain pills. I had the similar inclination after a surgical/medical issue, tried to limit myself only bedtime.

I was chided by my nurse, though. She was clear with me that relieving pain during the awake hours was at least as important, as that allowed me to be more active which would allow faster recovery. We might think we can power through the pain, but it's not always the best decision, medically.

So I'd suggest you ask your doc if there is a benefit to limiting your usage, especially during these first few days.

Best wishes for a full and fast recovery.

I had a friend that had a shoulder surgery, the surgeon gave him a prescription for pain pills, he said he wouldn't take them. The surgeon told him you needed to take them, he said, if you don't during physical therapy you will not move the shoulder enough and you will not get proper range of movement. He took them.

I had customer in his 80s that was in a lot of pain, he mentioned that we probably won't being seeing much of him anymore, it was just hard for him to get out. He said his doctor prescribed pain pills, but he would take them, being afraid he would get hooked.
I tried to convince him that he wouldn't be the type of person out stealing to get money to buy drugs from his dealer. The guy was in his 80s, living in pain when he didn't need to, I say so what, if he got hooked, as long as the doctor, will prescribe the meds to keep him comfortable.

 

[mystang52]

Beyond the medical and health aspects, now I have to re-evaluate my plans going forward for retirement. With constant CT scans, and the potential for additional findings and surgery(s) in the future and the prospect of high medical costs (I was a very low user of Dr's/Health Insurance up to now), I may need to plan working until medicare. More to think about.

If you continue working and need to stay under treatment, be sure to protect yourself under FMLA regulations.

 

[ejman]

Good to read the update Tiger. It certainly sounds like something that you can fight and it was early in the process - a major plus. There are up days and down days it comes with the territory. Its OK to have down days. There will also be up days. Keep the faith.

 

[EastWest Gal]

Hi Tiger8693,

I see you posted about football a couple of days ago. I hope that means you're feeling better and moving around better. Been thinking about you.

 

[Tiger8693]

Hi Tiger8693,

I see you posted about football a couple of days ago. I hope that means you're feeling better and moving around better. Been thinking about you.

Thank you EastWest Gal, I appreciate everyones thoughts and prayers. I am still recovering, with a trip to the surgeon tomorrow to hopefully finally have the chest drain tube removed after almost 4 weeks. After the bilateral PE's, etc I was really starting to get a little depressed, but feeling better now has really helped.

 

[Dtail]

Thank you EastWest Gal, I appreciate everyones thoughts and prayers. I am still recovering, with a trip to the surgeon tomorrow to hopefully finally have the chest drain tube removed after almost 4 weeks. After the bilateral PE's, etc I was really starting to get a little depressed, but feeling better now has really helped.

Good to hear. Keep the good news coming.

 

[O2Bfree]

Tiger, it's good to hear you are on the upswing. Whatever it is in your life that's helping you get through this, I wish you plenty of that!

 

[Tiger8693]

Quick update. Had a setback with a stomach abscess. Fever, didn't want to eat, etc. Since fever increased, went back to the hospital and after another CT where they found the infection, they placed another drain, determined the specific infection and am now on antibiotics. Just starting to feel a little better and start to eat something. Follow up next Wednesday.

 

[Montecfo]

That's excellent that you are continuing to get good treatment Tiger. Please keep us updated. Many prayers.

 

[Dawg52]

A lifelong friend of mine had pretty much the same thing as you almost 2 years ago. A small cancerous tumor on his pancreas. He was told the 'better' kind. He had surgery and is doing fine. Just talked to him the other day.

Good luck to you Tiger. Sounds like you are headed in the right direction.

 

[CindyBlue]

Hang in there, Tiger! You can beat this!

 

[Aerides]

Quick update. Had a setback with a stomach abscess. Fever, didn't want to eat, etc. Since fever increased, went back to the hospital and after another CT where they found the infection, they placed another drain, determined the specific infection and am now on antibiotics. Just starting to feel a little better and start to eat something. Follow up next Wednesday.

I feel your pain on that, literally. Receiving new post-op new drains is not fun.

But since you can already eat it sounds like you're well on the mend from that. I'm sure you already know not to expect a straight line recovery, and this sort of thing is pretty common.

 

[wdwwildbill]

Tiger , I don't post much but have lot's of health issues including cyst on Pancreas that I have had for awhile now. It gets checked yearly but always worry about it getting worse. I wish they could just remove it so I could forget about it. But that's not an option. Health is so important Good luck on your recovery.. Sending prayers your way ........

 

[pacergal]

Thanks for the update. Hope you continue to improve every day. Getting the correct antibiotics will help.
Best wishes for a speedier recovery.