Pancreatic cancer

Hi  Bedside Sister. 

My name is Helen and I am one of the Cancer Information Nurse Specialists on the Macmillan Support Line. Thank you for getting in touch with us and I hope you find the online community a helpful and supportive environment. 

I am sorry to hear about your sister’s pancreatic cancer diagnosis and that she underwent major abdominal surgery earlier this year.  She has now been offered chemotherapy, but you are worried that this will make her feel worse, especially as she has recovered from the surgery and is feeling much better.  

Here at Macmillan, we can give general advice and support. We are an independent charity and don’t have access to NHS medical records. We cannot give personalised information, and always encourage our customers to seek advice and guidance from their own surgical and oncology teams, especially if your questions relate to treatment options and prognosis. I hope that your sister has the contact details of the cancer nurse specialist within the gastroenterology team who will be able to offer more personalised support.   

You may find these questions useful to guide your conversation when you have the phone call with the chemotherapy team this week.  Here is some general information about chemotherapy  

I know it’s a challenging time for you and your sister right now and I am pleased you reached out for support. It’s important that you don’t feel alone. Here at Macmillan, we offer a range of support and services you can access. You may find this link helpful to look at. Pancreatic cancer uk  also offer support and advice. 

Please don’t hesitate to get back in touch if you’d like to talk things through. Some people find it helpful to talk through their concerns. You can talk to one of our nurses on the support line. It’s a free phone number on 0808 808 0000 and we are here 7 days a week, 8am-8pm or email us.  

Best wishes, 

Helen   

Cancer Information Nurse Specialist  

Ref: HW/ HC 

So you can't give me advice but your saying g that's what your here for?

Hi Beside sister

Thanks for getting in touch with us again here at the Macmillan Support Line. I can understand that this is a very difficult time for you and your sister. It is good that your sister is feeling better now after recovering from her pancreatic cancer surgery. But it is natural to worry that the chemotherapy might make her feel worse. Everyone is different and so it can be hard to predict exactly how the treatment might make her feel. This would be a good question to ask the doctors during the phone appointment tomorrow.

The doctors will be looking at the probable benefits of the chemotherapy in controlling and shrinking the cancer and helping your sister feel better. They will balance this against the risk of the chemotherapy causing unpleasant side effects that may make her feel uncomfortable. They will try to find a treatment that helps her to feel as well as possible for as long as possible. Any side effects can usually be controlled very well. If the treatment causes side effects, it is important to let the treatment team know straight away so they can manage them in the best way.

If your sister finds that the chemotherapy makes her feel worse, the doctors can look at changing the treatment to something that may suit her better. They can also look at reducing the dose, or stopping the treatment and giving medicines to control any symptoms. There can be various options in these situations.

Here at the Macmillan Support Line, we can give general information and support. We are independent from the NHS and don’t have access to medical records, so we can’t advise which treatments are suitable for individual people. But we can give general information about the possible benefits and side effects of treatments.

I hope that this information is helpful. But I realise that it may not answer all of your questions. This information about controlling symptoms of advanced pancreatic cancer might be helpful to read. Chemotherapy is one way of trying to shrink the cancer and help people feel better, but there are other ways of controlling symptoms too. Your sister’s treatment team can give advice on the best treatments for her and can adjust the treatments if needed.

We can also talk this through with you if you would like to call us on 0808 808 0000. It is often easier to discuss things by phone. Our lines are open from 8am to 8pm, every day. Or you can email us or contact us by webchat.  

I hope that the discussion with the doctors goes well for both you and your sister.

With best wishes
Debbie C, Cancer Information Nurse Specialist 

Ref/**DC/KS