Cancer Smells

Less than one minute read time.

Hi,

My husband last April of 2022 had a smell when I gave him a kiss a couple weeks prior to being diagnosed with early stage pancreatic cancer. It smelled like he smoked 3 or 4 cigars. I asked him as he doesn't smoke. He said he didn't so we cleaned up his diet to raw green juice and veggies. The smell went away but a couple weeks later he got diagnosed but the biopsy came back negative so he did not have the whipple surgery. We kept the healthy eating going and the lesion shrank by the end of October of 2022. By the end of December he was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and the same cigar smell was back like he had before he was diagnosed when they found the 2 cm lesion on the CT scan.

Has anyone else notice certain smells associated with certain cancers? What did they smell like? I could smell my husband's when I could kiss him in the morning.

Thank You

Anonymous
  • Hi  

    It's Megan here from the Online Community team. I came across your post and wanted to ask if you meant to post in our Cancer forums? I ask as the blog section is for members to diarise their personal experiences. 

    Our cancer forums are spaces to connect with others who share similar experiences so you may find joining and posting in the Family and friends forum a good place to start. 

    There's also the Pancreatic cancer forum which you are welcome to join should you have questions or experiences you want to share relating to your husband's diagnosis, treatment, and side effects.

    With you posting about being able to smell your husband's cancer, you may wish to direct your question to the Nurses here at Macmillan. They can provide trusted information and reassurance, alongside talking through your concerns.

    To get in touch with the Nurses, you can post a question in our Ask an Expert section on the Community or contact the Macmillan Support Line.

    The Support Line is open from 8am to 8pm every day and to get in touch, please call 0808 808 00 00. There’s also the option to send an email or use live webchat during the opening hours.

    When you get in touch with the Support Line there will be options to speak to the Information Nurse Specialists and Support Advisers alongside the Money and Work teams. Please do get in touch even if you need a listening ear as sometimes it can be helpful to talk to someone who is there to listen.

    I’m sure others who feel comfortable sharing their personal experiences will reply soon. In the meantime, you may wish to search the group for similar discussions. You can use the search bar at the top of the page to search keywords and phrases.

    I hope the above information can be useful and if you need any help using the Community, please don’t hesitate to get back in touch. You can email community@macmillan.org.uk or send a private message to the Moderator account.

    Best wishes, 

    Megan
    Macmillan's Online Community team