Dad Just Diagnosed

[Tina1975]

Hi...this is the first time on the forum, although I have been reading the posts for the past few days.

I am just really after some advice...

My dad(64)has just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but I am still unsure of alot of things really.

It only started about two months ago, although for a few weeks before I noticed he started to look older and had lost weight, then I went on holiday...when I returned I could not believe his weight loss.

He told me he had been for some tests, and that his diabetes had gone through the roof!!

He has lost about two and half stones in the space of 4/5 weeks.

Anyway he was then sent for scans, endoscopy and then ct scan, and then they told him they had found a growth on his pancreas....

After a consultation they told him they think its cancer, and mentioned that the growth was growing around one of the blood vessels (the one that carries blood to the liver)

At this time he would not let me go to any of these appointments, which worried me and my sister like mad, but dad is one of those men, if he says no he means it..looking back I think he just did not want to worry us!

We lost our mum to lung cancer this time three years ago.

From there, he has just been in for another endoscopy(but were they take biopsies of the growth)and they had to wait 5days for them to develop...they have already told him that as soon as they get the results, they will be looking at putting him on chemo for three months.

Now dad has started to let me go to the appointments.

On saturday, we saw his consultant, who told us that no cancer cells were found, so they have to redo it..but he also said he was mindful that whilst they set a day to get him in to redo this procedure, he was not getting any treatment...so today he had to go for another ct scan (so that they can compare it to the one he had around three weeks ago), and that they were setting up a meeting for him to see an oncologist at the cancer centre on Wednesday, to discuss treatment...

He also said that they were going to redo the procedure at the end of this week, or beginning of next, and that they would again have to wait 5days for the results....and then look at starting treatment after the new year....

Am I being gullible here?? I cannot understand why they would wait til newyear to start treatment...he has told us although the growth has grown around the blood vessel, it has not spread into the blood or any other organs, and that he would have to have 3months chemo, before they could operate..

Does this means its inoperable??

I am so glad he has now started to let me go with him..but dad is quite positive at the moment, and worried about asking the docs point blank, how bad is this..incase it is bad news. I have read so much over these past few weeks, and I cannot help but fear the worse...but I really would appreciate any advice/tips etc...

[J_T]

Hello and welcome to the forum. So sorry to hear of your dad's diagnosis.

It sounds like your dad is Stage 3, locally advanced, no spread to any other organ. He will need chemo to try and shrink the tumour from around the major blood vessel and then, hopefully, his tumour may become operable.

You don't mention any jaundice so don't know why they would wait till New Year to start chemo but I'm no expert! If I were you I'd ask the question. Don't just accept things, always question.

Dianne and Jeni, the specialist nurses on here are always available to phone or email during the week. The are brilliant!

Keep us informed of how you get on. This is a good place to be for help, advice and just to offload if needs be.

Julia x

[cestrian]

Hi Tina and welcome to the Forum.

You will obtain loads of information on here that will be of practical use as there is usually someone whose own situation is very similar.

I was a bit older than your own Dad when I was diagnosed at the end of May this year. I had suffered a similar weight loss accompanied by pretty chronic pain. As soon as PC was confirmed I was more than happy to have the support of my daughter at appointments and she was a rock not only in giving me her love and asking all the questions but in ferrying me to and from hospitals in the area for treatment.

Creon which replace the enzymes not being produced by the pancreas may help in allaying your Dad's weight loss and something like Omeprazole used in conjunction with these can also help with digestive problems. Do ask the nurses on here but also make sure that you get the local support network into place as well. Sadly the quality of care does vary dramatically from area to area so finding someone you can trust to co-ordinate your Dad's care could also be important. McMillan nurses are a great source of practical help from pain relief to sorting out Attendance Allowance and a Blue Badge for your Dad so do make sure that you are put in touch with them.

Please use the Forum to ask questions Di and Jenni will be happy to advise you in depth and also keep amateur meddlers like me in check. One thing you will need to do is make sure that you take good care of yourself and make use of all the help that is available.

Love and Peace

Mike

[Slewis7313]

Hi Tina, I am really sorry to hear about your Dad's diagnosis. I too was diagnosed around this time last year when I was 58. I also had issues with an inconclusive biopsy, which they decided not to repeat as the quality of the biopsy was good, simply no cancerous cells found and the MDT were convinced the tumour was behaving in a cancerous manner and suggested it was treated accordingly. I was also keen to get on to chemo as soon as possible, but seeing the Oncologist and going for the induction session at the chemo centre took a few weeks, so it was decided to start the chemo in the New Year. I think my condition was picked up relatively early, so the extra few weeks was not too much of a concern and I was happy to wait. You'll find my life story under 'inoperable' on the system which may fill in some gaps. I have also recently had a failed Whipples attempt, but am still doing well one year on.

Good luck to both you and your Dad.

Take care

Steve

X

[marie souter]

Hi Tina,

So sorry to hear about your dads diagnosis, I agree that this sounds stage 3, my moms was also grown around the artery and hers was at the head of the pancreas, unfortunatly my moms was stage 4 and had spread so hers was inoperable because of the fact that it had spread and the fact it encased the artery. thank goodness your dad can have chemo so maybe his tumor is not totally encasing the artery and reducing the tumor may make the difference where they can operate..(not from a medical background just a personal opinion) I wish you loads of luck there.

They are SO SLOW when it comes to chemo when you want it done yesterday, it took my mom 3 mths also to get her initial appointment for chemo (by that time she refused it).

Its frustrating and you want to scream at them THIS IS MY DADS LIFE...but they don;t rush things and it's a case of having to be patient at a horrific time for you.

I know right now you don't want to be asking questions but asking them when you are ready is vitally important, I can tell by your torment what this is doing to you. Write down what you need to ask, if you don't want to ask them in front of your father... make your excuses and follow the doc and ask the questions you need to (I did).

My heart goes out to you it really does .. if you find it helps I was my moms sole carer from diagnosis to her passing and my thread is here .. you may find it helpful some of the things I faced along the way BUT as I said she was stage 4 ...

http://forum.pancreaticcancer.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1057

The specialist nurses on the forum are amazing and very helpful (moderators) please use them as often as you need they are an invaluable source of information. The guys on the forum were always very helpful to me that is why although my mom has passed, I am still here passing on any info I can to anyone who needs it.

I feel for you that you have already lsot your mom to lung cancer, my moms Pancreatic Cancer had spread to her Lungs too but thankfully this only started causing her minor issues right at the end of her life.

My father passed 4 years ago from another terminal illness COPD so to lose one parent and watch them waste away and then see your remaining parent potentially going down the same route its truly horrific and not fair .. remember that your dad's has not spread that at least is something..

Please let us know how things are going and feel free to vent anytime you need to..

love and hugz

Marie

xx

[marie souter]

Oh Tina,

Yes as the guys have mentioned here, your dads weight loss if he hasn't been told about it yet .. then he needs CREON asap he can't OD on it and it will take some tweaking but this will help him steady his weight...... creon although it will sound extreme when they tell you, needs to be taken with EVERY meal or snack (except fruit) you take more with particularly fatty foods as this is the biggest problem your body will have to break the fats down..these are enzyme supplements it sounds like the inevitable side effect has happened wherein his body has stopped producing enzymes (once again not from a medical background more experience here, not everyone is the same).

Mom was also prescribed Omeprazole to try and settle her tummy.

HUgz

Marie

xx

[Tina1975]

Hi there

Thanks so much for your useful replies, and taking the time to do it.

Dad does not have any jaundice at the moment...but reading all these posts, I am still baffled, because people seem to know what cancer, what stage etc, and we have not been told any of this...

And Im fuming today....

When we went to see dads consultant (private) on saturday, he told us, that he would be having a CT scan on Tuesday, and would be going to x (edited-moderator)on Wednesday to see the oncologist. Well yesterday my dad rang the private hospital up because he had not heard anything, and a receptionist told my dad, that the consultant should not have promised him anything until he had checked with them, and she also told dad that they could not fit him in..dad told her the consultant had said they were doing it urgently as he was at x(edited-moderator) the following day....so she managed to fit him in on that day luckily.

Anyhow today we have again rang the consultant as we have not heard anything (for the appt tomorrow with the oncologist)on speaking to his secretary she told us she had sent his stuff off and to ring x (edited-moderator), we did and they said they had not heard of my dad!! So after getting back to the secretary she told us he was going to be under a certain oncologist, but he was actually on leave at the moment??? So she said she would speak to the consultant and get back to dad late afternoon.....guess what....nothing!!!! I am livid...the consultant sounded as though he had it all arranged, and definately said we would be seeing the oncologist wednesday, ive even sorted work out, to take him.....

Does anyone know who I could speak to, in getting something done...I am furious, the fact we are being told its this awful disease, yet its not spread to other organs, and that they are mindful on getting things done asap in case it was to spread, and then this!!

[J_T]

So you are awaiting scan results?

Sadly Tina, cock ups of this type are not uncommon! It is SO frustrating and upsetting. How they manage to mess up appointments is beyond me, I mean these are bright people!

If you are being seen privately I'm not sure that PALS (Patient Liaison Service) applies??? They help deal with any niggles you may have about your treatment, but as I say I think that's just for NHS patients. (someone will tell me if I'm right or wrong!)

I hope they get a shift on sorting things out for your dad so he, and your family can relax a little over Christmas knowing everything is in hand.

Julia x

[nikkis]

Hi Tina,

Sorry to hear you are having all these problems. As Julia says PALS should help if the NHS hospital is at fault, but for private hospitals I would perhaps ring the switchboard and ask to speak to a manager, just like NHS hospitals they will not want any bad publicity so should be keen to help sort out your problems. Hope you can get it all sorted,

Nikki

[marie souter]

wow sounds like you're getting a lot of conflicting and confusing information..I know this all sounds terrible but privately you will get this all done SO SO much quicker than on the NHS even though right now it doesnt seem so.. my moms initial scan took weeks to sort out ... So your dad actually got his scan today? I have no idea how to help you on this one with it being private..other than a call to them first thing in the morning to see if anything got sorted? He or she who shouts loudest?

Horrific time for you, I know, I was only going off the info you gave us initially where you said they think its cancer from the scan...the biopsy confirmed it wasn't malignant at that stage? is that correct? I don't understand why they want to re-do the biopsy? But to be honest if it was me think I would be happy with them re-doing it just to give me more reassurance but thats just me.

I think initially you did say you were afraid to ask some questions but they do from my experience ask if there are any questions .. usually a lot of people ask prognosis etc but my mom didn't want to know, I think you really need to see where you're at with scans and the further biopsys that they are insisting on doing before they can really let you know whats what as they would be giving you half info they need all that medical evidence ... try to take a deep breath ... I know its hard ... all these things will happen hopefully tomorrow you they will at least have the info. Did they say how long the Oncologist was on leave for?

Love and HUGz

Marie

xx

[marie souter]

I found this with regards to dealing with complaints in private healthcare but nothing on how to hurry things along..There are email addresses ... and also telephone numbers so maybe they can advise you on what to do...

http://www.avma.org.uk/data/files/pages/private.pdf

hugz

Marie

xx

[Tina1975]

Hi there

Thanks again for your replies and info...

Basically dad initially had blood tests/ultrasound and ct scan, were from there they said he had a growth on the pancreas, so then sent him for a ct scan with dye, and also endoscopy...they then did another endoscopy but with the needle were they took biopsies from the growth, and told him then it was cancer, and that the growth was in the head of the pancreas, but had also grown around the blood vessel that takes the blood to the liver...they then grew the biopsies for 4/5 days, but did say at the time that if the results came back with no cancerous cells, they would have to do the procedure again as they are definate its cancer.

On sat they told us the results had come bk not showing cancerous cells, but this could be because the three areas were they took them from, could of just been inflammation and not the actual tumour, apparently its very common, so whilst they are setting this procedure again in place, they got him in yesterday for another ct scan, to compare with the last one...

Dad is having tests on the NHS but some of the appts like the consultation with the dr that specialised in pancreatic cancer have been private, he also did pay for the ct scan private too...but they did say when he goes to x (edited-moderator) to have the chemo, this will be on the nhs....

Im just livid, that we were told he was going in tomorrow to see the oncologist and discuss treatment etc, and they have not even got bk to us...but I am going to ring the consultants secretary up first thing in the morning, as she told us she would speak with the dr asap and def ring us bk with an update...which she hasnt done.

Sorry for having a rant, but so frustrated and worried at the moment...grrr

xxx

[Tina1975]

Marie...

Hi hun, thanks for your posts, as for your last question, they didnt say how long he was on annual leave for...but I will ask tomorrow.

And as for the tumour, although it has not shown up with cancerous cells in the biopsies, they are adamant it is cancerous, and this is why they want to redo the procedure, as they told us they need it in black and white, before they can start him on any chemo...

T.xx

[marie souter]

omg Tina, how frustrating...I would swear..but ... I'd get banned but I've wanted to swear my head off many times on here today...a lot of times at whats happening at your end...have you asked what they are going to do to ensure that THIS TIME they actually get a biopsy from the right place?

So in reality right now you're at a stale-mate they can't tell you anything honey until they have that in black and white how outright annoying, I can tell you with this type of cancer there is a lot of inflammation inside especially around the pancreas .. I jsut hope they get the next one right then so they can get him on chemo asap ...

please let us know how it goes

love and hugz

Marie

xx

[marie souter]

also NEVER apologise for ranting, I have had some major rants on my 'tired' thread ... you have to vent somewhere and sometimes just typing it down and hitting send gets it out, I used to find it tired me out .. it was like a therapy .. it really helped me and I found that no one understood what I was going through more than the guys on here .. as a sole carer I felt completely isolated, alone and scared of the what was to come, would I cope, how would I cope, where would I find the strength...its amazing but you find all of that and more BUT you do sound like you need to try and take some me time even for an hour .. light some candles, have a bath .. meditate ... try try to take some time for yourself you are allowed and you are only human, you have a long road ahead, you sound like you are going to be a tower of strength for your beloved dad, but you need to keep yourself healthy. This isn't going to be easy to be honest you sound just like I did. The road ahead will probably be a roller-coaster of events and I can see you there holding your dad up...but hold yourself up too honey and remember there is a lot of help out there..things will start moving soon I wish you luck tomorrow and will be scouring your thread to see what happened ...

love and hugz

Marie

xx

[Tina1975]

Hi Marie and everyone also

Thanks so much for taking the time to get back.

I have gotta say, I read your thread last night, its so heartbreaking...you should be so proud of what you did for your mum, and Im so sorry for your loss. Its terrible having to go through all that, I did with my mum three years ago.

I am livid tonight, feeling really stressed...

Dad and family friend rung them again this morning to find out whats going on...

We were told yesterday that drs were having a meeting yesterday afternoon, and dad was on the list for them to discuss about getting him back in for them to redo this procedure(taking biopsies), so when he rang today one of the receptionists said yes we have to put it in the post but its not for a few weeks yet!!!!!

Dad explained that the consultant wanted it doing urgently..and then explained that without this he cannot get into X(edited-moderator) and how things could spread...she then realised it was urgent and said she would contact the drs.

She rang back and said the drs didnt know that it was so urgent, so one of the drs was going to go in work tomorrow morning to sort it out.

As for dads consultant...grrrr....after his secretary not getting back to us yesterday or this morning, dad re rang (edited-moderator) to try and find out if they knew anything, and they told him they only received the paperwork yesterday and the consultant he is supposed to be seeing is on annual leave all this week and next, so dad asked to speak with someone above him, and they are off too...then this woman told him, it def wont be soon, as they are fully booked and it could take weeks to sort out!!!

How the hell can this happen....

Whendad re rang his consultants secretary and played hell with her and told her he wanted too speak to him personally she said right il speak with the consultant but if he is busy then i will ring you back and tell you what he has said, and then told him, she would call either late afternnon or tomorrow morning.....guess what nothing again!

I have told dad let me deal with it, but he said im capable of doing it myself, so i explained i was just trying to help, and i knew he was capable, so he said he will wait for the call backs tomorrow but then if they dont ring back god knows....i have explained there are people we can complain too...but think he is worried of upsetting someone and it coming back on him....he was very annoyed tonight, and had waited up for the call, then said he was shattered and was going to go to bed, and then told me he just felt like throwing in the towel now, if this is what he has to put up with.

I am sooooooo furious....he should not have to be putting up with this, and certainly not have to chase and get organised his own blooming appts....i was stuck at work today and just felt so useless.

Just dont want to pressure him with regards to speaking to someone as dont want him feeling like we think he cannot cope, if you know what i mean....its just really got to me tonight as feel like he sounded so down, hes been so positive recently, and now hes even more stressed out with this. Txx

[J_T]

I can't quite believe what is happening with your dad Tina. Its ridiculous. Even if the consultant is off on leave he should have registrars on his team, otherwise who will look after his patients while he's away?

it's not acceptable in any way shape or form and I'm surprised this is happening at a centre of renowned excellence.

If phone calls don't work I'd be tempted to rock up to x (edited-moderator) and start shouting in the corridors! (I probably wouldn't in reality but would like to!)

Hope next time you post its to say its all be sorted. Your poor dad shouldn't have to contend with shoddy care.

Julia x

[marie souter]

My god Tina REALLY what the hell??????????? I,m stunned and flabbergasted in fact there are no words .... Your poor poor dad ...I,m with julia on this one he MUST have registrars my mom and I didn't always see her oncologist if he wasn't available we would see one of his team ... This is not acceptable wish to god I cud come raise the roof somewhere ... Waiting wks is the difference to your dads life .... Total idiots incompetence galore ... Feel for you so much honey your frustration and worry and fear comes through in waves ... How you managed to work today with all this speaks volumes about you ... The worst thing I found dealing with was mom giving in her depression setting in ... Its not fair when they're going through so much x if u ever want to talk offline ask the moderators for my email am happy to pass u my number xxx so angry for u .... Hope u r coping a little better now ... Hope tomorrow brings better news

Ps ... My thread and mom ... Hoping time will dull everything it has for my dads passing but to me it was last night not last mth ... Still numb ... Xx

Love and hugs

Marie

Xx

[Tina1975]

Hi there

Hope your all well...

Well Ive just got in from work and totally shattered.

Was over at dads first thing this morning, woke at 6am and couldnt sleep, so got ready and thought stuff it im just going to go over, and even if he doesnt want me making calls at least I can be there too support him...anyway soooo glad I did now...as he actually asked me to do the calls.

So when I got there one of the hospitals had already rang him to say they had spoke to docs and the first urgent appt they could offer dad to have this procedure was 23rd dec.....(I still dont find this acceptable-but what can we do?) although they have stressed should they get a cancellation dad would be priority...cannot have enough nice words said about this woman who was on the phone...she had really pushed for the earliest.

Now...wish I could say the same for dads consultant secretary, my god i was shocked..I rang her and explained I was the daughter, and that she had spoke to dad yesterday, and told him she would get back last night, and that she didnt....her reply

"Youll have to explain whats going on, as I have had 20,000 calls since last night"

I said to her, OK, can I express to you how serious/urgent this call is today, my dad has been diagnosed with PC, and has been told he needs treatment asap, as there is a risk of spreading, and every appt that was supposed to have been booked hasnt happened, plus from what I believe a referral to X (edited-moderator) that should have happened approx 4weeks ago...hasnt been done and was only done yesterday.....well she panicked, all she kept saying was er, er,

I then said my dad requested an urgent call from the consultant and as of yet has not received one...did you ask the cons to call my dad??

She just panicked, then told me that the cons was going to get this oncologist to see dad privately...i said well i thought he was on annual leave, she said, well cons was going to ring him last night and ask him to come in off his annual leave??

so i said well we did not receive a call yesterday explaining anything, do you realise how distressing it is in these circumstances, having to wait for a call, and not get it...she said well the cons didnt text me to tell me until late whilst i was at home, and i dont mean too sound rude, but i am not going to be phoning patients from home!! I sai well i can understand that but it is now 1030am the following day, you could of rang this morning....

She had nothing to say...furious is not the word, how i kept my cool i dont know...

Anyway i then requested yet another call from the cons as i wanted to speak personally to him, and she said she would tell him, i even rang half an hour later to ask had she done it, and she said she had..

Then family member took dad out this afternoon, as he has been stuck in all day for the past few days waiting for calls, and when he returned he had an answerphone message from the oncologist sec so he rang back but no luck, so we will just have to wait now to speak with her in the morning....but hopefully she will have some good news and tell us an appt has been made....we will see

I just cant believe this week, every single appt, dad has chased up himself, pushed and pushed and in the end got it made himself, surely this is not right, this should of been done already, im livid.....anway now we will just see what happens tomorrow....but believe me, this has all been logged and im certainly going to speak with dads consultant, as i now think /wonder if its the secretary that hasnt done/sent referrals.

And guess what....still no call from dads consultant.

Does anyone know if your paying private,(dad is paying private for the consultations, but the drs have said treatment will be on nhs) are you entitled to request a call from the consultant??

I was private myself last year as had three operations...and I requested a few calls with my consultant and they did get bk to me, so wonder if they have to?? As now this is the 2nd request in 2days, and still nothing.....im furious, and actually wondering if this secretary is actually passing my messages on...

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..........xx

[Tina1975]

Hi Marie....hope your ok hun...thx for your msg....yeah I really dont know how I worked today, as my head is all over the place...cannot think straight and certainly cannot concentrate much...but hey ho....and yes i know what you mean hun I am still numb with mums passing three years ago...it would be 3years on the 16th this month, and still very raw, it hurts.....xx

[cestrian]

Hi Tina

So frustrating for you but at least you've rattled a few cages and set the birds fluttering. As I think from selecting staff in business what's in the heart is often more important than anything else when dealing with "clients". When I was first being diagnosed my lead nurse in the Gastro team actually replied to me while on holiday in the Caribbean!

Anyway it looks as though things are at least moving forward for your Dad so please don't get too hung up about minor delays. I know with time being of the essence every minute seems vital but I really don't think PC quite works like that. The most distressing thing is this failure in communication you and your Dad are being subjected to and for which there is no excuse. Once I'd got the lovely Nurse Kate on my case then everyone jumped to it and tests, biopsies and scans all took place at a rate of knots but you do need that one person who takes full responsibility for making sure stuff gets done.

Hope things improve for you all but do make sure you, yourself, get some respite from all the stress - it's a long long road and you don't want holes in your shoes if you're carrying your Dad some of the time!

Love and Peace

Mike x

Love and

[marie souter]

Hello Tina,

Well that was a good call deciding to go over to your dads, you certainly got some stuff done, now that you have achieved what you have achieved your dad will feel like he can start relying on you to do some stuff for him...its amazing no matter how old we get our parents still think of us as little kids lol.

I think Mike is right, the miscommunication has been horrendous but things are starting to move now and thats the main thing, his procedure being the start (thank god). Now its time to focus on this and everything should start rollercoastering from there.

I think the secretary was extremely rude by saying 'and i dont mean too sound rude, but i am not going to be phoning patients from home!'

I worked for Virgin media, and I had one particular person who was almost full term pregnant moving to a rural area, I had problems getting her phone installed she had no mobile phone signal, I was about to go on holiday and had several things I had to follow through with to make sure this happened from getting the road dug up (council permission) to making sure the technician had it down on his list that day...I rang these people, my colleague at work to make sure my work order was closed down properly to ensure the phone went live AND my customer on my holiday to make sure everything went down as it should because I wanted to go that extra mile as I was worried about her pregnancy and being without a phone...if I can do that just for a phoneline...really? This is someones life..a quick hi am at home but I just wanted you to know ... BUT I guess she could be doing that everyday and thats just me .. prollies best I aint in that job I probably would never be off the phone .. being one of those extra mile people lol.

My mom not only got calls from her consultant (on the nhs) but also had home visits when she was too ill to come out to appointments. But I think that may depend on your consultant and catchment area..I would like to think that this would go across the board for all in these circumstances. As this was yesterday am truly hoping to see your dad or yourself managed to get through to the secretary today. Believe me you ARE going to soon have that very special Macmillan Nurse who will make people jump through hoops for you and chase many things up .. appointments .. treatments .. they're like little miracle workers .. things are starting to move now though .. so take heart honey and remember to take care of you too .. hard I know when you are so worried but really you need to be in one piece to be any good to your dad in the long run xxx I think you need a few stiff drinks and to exhale my love ...

looking forward to hearing some good news today from you

Love and hugz

Marie

xx

[Tina1975]

Hi Guys

Hope your all well today...

Just got in, I cant believe went to bed last night and didnt wake til 0910hrs this morning, which is not like me....lately I have been up from 430/530....

Anyway spoke to dad this morning, the secretary(of the oncologist) called first thing, to say that he has a appointment weds at 345pm at christie, and its the private block were he has to attend.

I know things are moving, but yet I cannot help but feel they are not moving fast enough??

Or is this just me...panicking..

Can I ask...if you dont mind...how fast is this sort of cancer??

Also even after the call with the consultants secretary, twice now we have asked for this call from him, and yet still nothing!!!

Dad has also cancelled the clinic appt we booked with him for tomorrow, he said now that the appt was booked with x (edited-moderator), he didnt want to take up that appt when someone else could use it, plus he said he felt like he would just be going in there to complain, and that he was worried about upsetting someone. I sort of understands what he is saying, but still feel like we should of gone, to basically let the consultant know whats happened, and ask why we havent had the calls, and why has dad had to organise everything himself...

But dad has said No...so I cannot push him into doing it, its his decision I know, but considering the consulant told us last sat, the procedure would be either this week, or beginning of next...then i still think the 23rd is ridiculous.

I am panicking I know, I just couldnt think straight today, as everyday goes by I am worried this could spread.

Grrrr I just so wanted to speak directly to the consultant and ask him point blank why all this has happened...my blood is boiling....

Anyway I do hope your all well, again thanks so much for your replies, it really does help...

Gotta be up at 5am to work...grrrr

Love T.xx

[Tina1975]

Sorry for the above post, that was done last night...but for some reason it didnt post.....anyway had a long shift was up at 5am.....so chilling, music on loud, with a few drinkypoos tonight....................hope your all ok....xxx

[marie souter]

Hey Tina,

Do you have a facebook account???

If so feel free to add me ... I am an insomniac so am reachable most of the time x

anyone else as well .. my pic on there is an old black and white pic of my family so you can't get me confused with another marie souter lol.

The question about how fast this cancer is .. is a question no one can answer really as everyone is different, people have different symptoms for eg depending on where the tumor is representing itself ... my mom was at stage 4 but she had been going to and from the docs for 2 years pre diagnosis with every single symptom of Pancreatic Cancer ... from her stage 4 diagnosis she had lasted 8 mths 7 days but she was diagnosed far far far too late, she was offered palliative chemo which may have helped her greatly but refused it ARGH could scream with that one she could still be here ... I know you feel like time is running away from you AND i understand the panic (I was there)... its frustrating your dad didnt go but like you say what can you do when he says no...its 9 days to the procedure (well almost believe me my moms procedure was put off for 6 wks initially I was furious beyond belief... its not so long honey before you know it .. it will be here xxx

WANTS TO JOIN YOU FOR A DRINKYPOOS .... XX

thinking of you honey

Love and Hugz

Marie

xx