Talk Cancer

Question:

Hi there, I need to ask a question and I think this is as good a place as any to do it. On the 11th of January my dad was diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas, basically his bile duct was blocked and a 3cm shadow had shown up on a ct scan. The doctor said that she was 99.99% sure it was cancer, in her medical opinion and that my dad had "weeks" to live if it could not be removed. Three days later my dad was admitted into the hospital to have expolatory examinations done on him. They basically put three cameras inside him to check whether the cancer had spread anywhere else. They gave him several x-rays and another far more detailed ct scan as well. They also gave him heart and lung tests to check his general health. To check to see if he could stand the Whipple procedure. Anyway, on the Friday (20th) we were told that the surgeon was going to try the whipple, he explained that the tumour was very close to the "metacausul vein" (not sure of the spelling there) and if it was touching it they would not do the whipple but do a bypass instead. Anyway, on Monday the 22nd my dad had the operation. thankfully, they did the whipple and in a 10 hr operation everything seemed to go well. The surgeon explained that because my dad was so young, hes only 53, that they, in his words "pushed the boat out" and removed not only all the tumour but a "little bit extra". We were very grateful that all had went well. However…… We discovered, on Wednesday 31st that after testing the tumour in pathology, 4 times that they discovered that my dad did not have cancer. there was no cancer in the tumour or anywhere else for that matter. Effectively, my dad has never had cancer. Well you can imagine the relief that we all felt but of course there are other issues now. My dad now has an latered life ahead of him, he has to be careful of what he eats, he is in terrible pain and now has an infection in his bladder which is causing concern and discomfort. My questions are these – How often does this happen, does anyone know of this happening to anyone else ? Could they have detected this without doing a whipple ? Surely in 2001 they must be able to tell whether a lump is cancer or pancreitis? Couldnt they have checked the tumour once they had opened my dad up first before proceeding ? Why couldnt they have done a biopsy when they were inside doing the explorotory surgery ? Even if they could have told, would the operation still have been neccesary and if not, what would the alternative treatment have been ? I thank you for any help you can give me on this matter and my heart goes out to all families and people with this accursed disease as I now know and have felt the pain of it. —

Response:

I wonder if you mean mesenteric vein? http://www.vesalius.com/graphics/archive/archtn_whipple.asp Warning!  very graphic surgical pictures. FWIW J – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi there, Anyway, on the Friday (20th) we were told that the surgeon was going to try the whipple, he explained that the tumour was very close to the "metacausul vein" (not sure of the spelling there) and if it was touching it they would not do the whipple but do a bypass instead.

Response:

ttp://www.sterner.org/~dsterner/pancreas/mdapanqa/panqabod.htm xploratory surgery is rarely done to diagnose pancreatic tumors or other bnormal conditions. Your doctor will    make every effort to diagnose the disease accurately before any urgery is done. ots more info on that url (including the various tests that are usually one before any surgery).   Pancreatic cancer is very serious and there is no cure.

Yes I know there is no cure but my father doesn’t have it and never did have, much to our relief. Just exactly what did he have (diagnosis?)

Acute pancreatitis. You mention a tumor…did he have insulinomas (non-functioning) or cancer just in a vein or ????

No he had a 3 cm shadow in his pancreas which was causing him poain and blocking his bile duct. I said all this in my original post. What was his bile duct blocked with (stones?) or a tumor?  Maybe they had to remove part of his pancreas to be sure that the cancer had not spread???

No stones, it was the lump that was blocking his bile duct and yes the surgeon said because my dad was so young that they had removed a bit extra to be safe. You might want to clarify these questions on the NG for the other posters.

I have clarified it the best I can. 1) Diagnosed as 99.99% sure of cancer. 2) A week of internal exporlatory surgery. 3) A whipple done 4) Discovery that the lump wasnt cancerous 5) 14 days of screaming pain 6) No biopsy done ever 7) no mention ever that this may be something other than cancer I presume he now does have pancreatitis? (very painful) and diabetes? (since they removed some of his pancreas)…

My dad is in terrible pain, they have searched for lumps and tried to drain fluid from behind his bladder only to find that there was no fluid there. So I dont know if that classes as pacratitis or not but there has been no mention of my dad having to take insulin or of being a diabetic. Are you sure you’ve got the correct information?

Yes Im positive I have the correct information – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi there, I need to ask a question and I think this is as good a place as any to do it. On the 11th of January my dad was diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas, basically his bile duct was blocked and a 3cm shadow had shown up on a ct scan. The doctor said that she was 99.99% sure it was cancer, in her medical opinion and that my dad had "weeks" to live if it could not be removed. Three days later my dad was admitted into the hospital to have expolatory examinations done on him. They basically put three cameras inside him to check whether the cancer had spread anywhere else. They gave him several x-rays and another far more detailed ct scan as well. They also gave him heart and lung tests to check his general health. To check to see if he could stand the Whipple procedure. Anyway, on the Friday (20th) we were told that the surgeon was going to try the whipple, he explained that the tumour was very close to the "metacausul vein" (not sure of the spelling there) and if it was touching it they would not do the whipple but do a bypass instead. Anyway, on Monday the 22nd my dad had the operation. thankfully, they did the whipple and in a 10 hr operation everything seemed to go well. The surgeon explained that because my dad was so young, hes only 53, that they, in his words "pushed the boat out" and removed not only all the tumour but a "little bit extra". We were very grateful that all had went well. However…… We discovered, on Wednesday 31st that after testing the tumour in pathology, 4 times that they discovered that my dad did not have cancer. there was no cancer in the tumour or anywhere else for that matter. Effectively, my dad has never had cancer. Well you can imagine the relief that we all felt but of course there are other issues now. My dad now has an latered life ahead of him, he has to be careful of what he eats, he is in terrible pain and now has an infection in his bladder which is causing concern and discomfort. My questions are these – How often does this happen, does anyone know of this happening to anyone else ? Could they have detected this without doing a whipple ? Surely in 2001 they must be able to tell whether a lump is cancer or pancreitis? Couldnt they have checked the tumour once they had opened my dad up first before proceeding ? Why couldnt they have done a biopsy when they were inside doing the explorotory surgery ? Even if they could have told, would the operation still have been neccesary and if not, what would the alternative treatment have been ? I thank you for any help you can give me on this matter and my heart goes out to all families and people with this accursed disease as I now know and have felt the pain of it. —

.. Mirth mirthATmirthDOTorgDOTuk ICQ: 17572632

Response: