Hello
I’m 58 years old woman and 12 months ago I was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic Cancer with secondaries in my lungs and liver. I was given months, weeks and possibly days to live. I’d seen my GP with what I now know are classic symptoms of pancreatic Cancer, awful gastric reflux and pain in my upper back. My GP put this down to the stress I was under at the time and sent me away with two months supply of Omeprazole. I will always wonder if I’d been diagnosed earlier I may not have developed secondaries
In February I completed 12 gruelling rounds of Folfirinox chemotherapy followed by 4 radiotherapy treatments to help manage my pain. I’m now having Gemcitabine chemotherapy with 3 weekly treatments followed by a week ‘off’. I’m to continue with this treatment until my 3 monthly CT scans show that the Gemcitabine is no longer working. Has anybody else had this chemotherapy and how have you found it? The first treatment gave me terrible nausea and diarrhoea so I’ve been prescribed a better antiemetic which has really helped
medication wise,
the medications that have really helped me among other things are
Pregabalin 300mg Zormorph 300mg twice daily Ketamine Dexamethasone 4mg Creon and Oramorph for breakthrough pain when needed
Before my diagnosis I was an active ( although looking back I noticed I was feeling very tired and losing weight which I put down to stress) I was 10 stone and a year on I’m 14 stone mainly due to the steroids I’m taking and the medications that I’m on that increase my appetite. I’ve gone from a size 10 to a size 20 but I’m alive! Has anyone else put weight on like me? I mainly read about people losing weight and not gaining weight
live gone from being an active person to walking with a walking aid, using a wheelchair, reclining chair, electric chair to help me get in and out of the bath, a shower stool, frame that fits round the loo to help me get on and off it and handrails for the stairs.(I hate that I’m losing my independence and sometimes need help getting in and out of the shower and doing my shoes up) All these aids have been supplied by Macmillan to whom I’m very grateful. I really can’t fault the care I’ve had here in Northumberland
I’m determined to make the most of the life I’ve got left whilst being terrified about the day I’m told that there’s no further treatment for me. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been and have so much to look forward to. This cruel disease has robbed me of my future
Lots of questions, sorry but I’m interested to know how others have felt when they were told that there’s no further treatment available for them
sending virtual hugs to you all
Hi
I don't have any experience with Gemcitabine but I noticed that your post hadn't had any replies yet. If you type 'gemcitabine' into the search bar at the top of the page you'll find lots of previous posts on this topic. You could have a read through some of them and reply to any of the more recent posts if you want to ask the poster any questions.
It's great to hear that you want to make the most of your life and I think this is something that everyone should aim to do whether they have cancer or not. None of us know what's around the corner but a cancer diagnosis certainly gave me a wake up call!
You might want to start a separate post asking how others have felt when told that there's no further treatment left for them but I'm hoping that it won't come to that for you as new treatments are being found all the time.
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Hi
Sorry to hear you're not feeling well at the moment.
Here are the previous threads on Gemcitabine. I have arranged them in date order with the most recent at the top.
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Thank you p, I’m not alone tgen
