Hi, I’m new here, my mum has recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which has spread to her liver and small intestine. She has been hospitalised in Lanzarote where she lives with my dad, I am currently waiting for my passport to be able to go out to her. Because she is in a hospital so far away it is hard to get information on exactly what is going on. My dad is dealing with everything with the doctors there, he does not speak Spanish and although some of the doctors there have very good English, I think things are still getting a little lost in translation. We haven’t been told anything about what stage mum is at, and that’s what’s worrying me the most right now, as everything I can find on the internet seems to suggest that if the cancer has spread from the pancreas to the liver and beyond then it is in the final stage and life expectancy is 3-5 months, if anyone can help me with a general idea of whether this is right or not I would be very grateful as I spend the whole time worrying. Mum is not currently able to eat or drink and has been on a drip mostly since she was admitted about 17 days ago. She had a small intestine bypass operation 6 days ago, but they have not tried to take her off I.v fluids yet as she still is not well enough as she keeps being sick, yesterday she was bringing up dark blood when she was sick, they have inserted a nose line again yesterday to help prevent her being sick, not sure what that is either. Sorry if I’ve typed to much for a first post, I just don’t know what to do, up until 8 weeks ago my mum was fine, and then my dad got a stomach virus, and my mum thought she was sick with the same virus, just different symptoms, cos my dad had an upset stomach but mum just felt constantly bloated and had no appetite, and would be sick after attempting to eat anything. Dad got better after about 10 days, but mums went on and it wasn’t til my dad said he’d take her to the ER if she didn’t see a doctor, that she made an appt. They did blood tests on the Wednesday and when she went in to follow up on the Friday they said she had to be admitted straight into hospital.
Hi Zanoni1972 and welcome to the Online Community but so sorry to hear about your mum’s Pancreatic Cancer diagnosis.
A cancer diagnosis like this in the family can be such a challenging and stressful time and with your mum and dad being in Lanzarote more so but getting support from others who are dealing with the ‘exact same' cancer type and support challenges can help a lot.
The Community is actually divided into dedicated Support Groups (Discussion Rooms) so can I recommend you consider joining and posting in our dedicated Pancreatic cancer support group. This is a safe place to talk to others who may have a similar diagnosis, treatment experience, to ask questions and get support from family members who are navigating the same journey.
When it comes to the practical and emotional challenges of supporting family and friends you may also benefit from joining our Family and friends support group where you will connect with others navigating the same support challenges.
To join a group first click on the “Bold Links” I have created above then once the group page opens click on “Click to Join” when the black banner appears or “Join” under “Group Tools” (this all depends on the device you are using)
You can then put up your own post when you’re ready by clicking “+new” or “+” in the top right next to the group title. You can copy and paste the text from this post into your new post. You can also scroll through other members posts and click “Reply” to get involved.
It’s a challenging time for you so you may want to use the Macmillan Support Line is open 8am-8pm (timings may differ across services) 7 days a week on 0808 808 00 00 or via Webchat and Email too. This service provides cancer information, practical information, emotional support or just a listening ear.
We also have our Ask an Expert section but do allow a few working days for a reply.
Do get back to me if you need further help navigating the community.
Thank you so much for the guidance, you have been so helpful I will definitely do that now 
