Hi, its taken me along time to decide to write this but I'm now at the point where I don't know what to do next. My husband was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer in August 2018 and the Surgeons attempted to do a Whipples procedure which was unsuccessful as the cancer had attached itself to a main artery. He has since had six rounds of chemotherapy which he found really gruelling and was even hospitalised due to severe diarrhoea. After the decision was made in March not to continue with any further chemo the Consultant said she didn't need to see him until the end of May. Within a week of this visit he started to get really bad stomach and back pains so we contacted the Nurse Specialist who directed us to our GP. He has been seeing the GP for about a month now who basically just increases the dosage of morphine he can take. We are now at the point where he sleeps for a couple of hours then is awake (mostly with pain) for a couple of hours throughout the day and night and when he tries to eat even small amounts the stomach pain increases. What can I do to help him?
Thanks in advance
Hi Pastietoo and welcome to the Online Community and first sorry for your post not getting answered until now and as always, sorry to see the circumstance that brought you here and to hear that your husband has been diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer and having a hard treatment journey.
If the Specialist Nurse directed you to your husbands GP has all his care been put into the GPs hands?. If not, there needs to be ongoing collaboration between his GP and his hospital team....... he may need to be referred to a Pain Control Clinic (often based in a local hospice) as these folks are best qualified to assess the pain and proscribe. So its time to get your feet and elbows into the GPs door.
My cancer journey was rather different but if you follow this link to our Pancreatic Cancer Forum you will be able to connect with people who understand the journey your husband is on.
Follow the link and join the group. Hit the 'Start a Discussion' tab and introduce yourself to the group - you could just copy an paste what you put in this first post.
Remember to go to the right on the group home page and select how you want to receive email notifications when someone answers your posts.
We also have these forums where you can connect with others supporting family and friends through their cancer journey: Carers Forum and Friends and Family Forum
You may also find our various Macmillan Support Line Services on 0808 808 00 00 to be very helpful even if all you want to do is talk with friendly person that can help in lots of ways.
We also have our ‘Ask an Expert’ section but please allow a few days to get an reply.
If you haven't yet completed your profile when you have a minute could you pop something about your journey so far into it. This really helps others when answering. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. To do this click on your username and then select 'Edit Profile'. You can amend it at any time and if you're not sure what to write you can take a look at mine profile by clicking on my username.
All the best.
