Hi,
My Mum was underwent the whipple operation in 2023 following a 4cm cancerous tumor was found on her pancreas. She managed 8 rounds of chemo afterwards before she has to stop due to serious side effects, and a CT scan last February showed no evidence of disease.
She’s now having near constant lower back pain on her left side and is taking paracetamol. She had the CA19-9 marker test recently which has come back as over 1000 (the normal range is around 37) and we are waiting for the results of her CT scan but sadly we are expecting to hear that the cancer has returned as is common with this type of cancer.
Has anyone else been in this position and what were the treatment options offered? We are starting to look at possible clinical trials (E.g immunotherapy) that she may be eligible for, although quite a few seem to be for people who weren’t eligible for the whipple.
Hi Flowers_88 and a very warm welcome to the Macmillan Community but sorry to hear about your mum’s diagnosis.
A cancer diagnosis like this can be such a challenging and stressful time but getting support from others who are dealing with the ‘exact same' cancer type or support challenges will help you a lot……. I have a completely different type of cancer and treatment journey.
This New to Community area is like our reception desk where we look to direct you to the best part of the Community for you to get support.
The Community is actually divided into dedicated Support Groups (Discussion Rooms) so can I recommend you look to join and post in our…….
……. support group.
This group 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 support journey.
As for the practical and emotional challenges of supporting your mum and indeed yourself you may benefit from joining and posting in our……
Supporting someone with incurable cancer (If this is applicable)
……. support groups where you will connect with a wide range of members navigating the exact same support challenges.
To connect with a group click on the “Bold Italic Links” I have created above …… then once the group page opens click in the [Black - Click to Join - Banner] that appears at the bottom of the page and this will then confirm that you have joined the group.
When you are ready……. you can introduce yourself by putting up your very own post by clicking [+ Create new post] or [+] in the top right of the group page.
You can copy and paste the text from this post into your new post.
It is an emotional time supporting family so you might find this Macmillan information your feelings when someone has cancer helpful as well as this link getting help with your emotions.
The Macmillan Support Line is open between 8am-8pm (timings may differ across services) 7 days a week on 0808 808 00 00…… this service provides cancer information, practical information, emotional support, benefits/financial guidance or just a listening ear.
Talking to people ‘face to face’ can be very helpful so do check to see if you have any Local Macmillan Support in your area, do also check for a local Maggie's Centre as these folks are amazing.
Do get back to me if you need further help navigating the community.
