Pancreatic cancer stage 4, spread to various lymph nodes and liver - help will chemo be offered??

Hi  

my precious mum has been diagnosed with advanced inoperable pancreatic cancer, she had a CT 5 weeks ago and was told about the mass, the biopsy confirmed it was adeno-squamous carcinoma with liver mets and various lymph node mets according to pet scan report. Since then she has gone down hill rapidly and is now in a hospice! She’s lost so much weight, struggles to eat and has been in so much pain, she is struggling with nausea and vomiting and has suffered so much already and we still don’t have an oncology appointment!! 

Can anyone give me any advice or thoughts on what you think oncology might offer? I am so worried they will say chemo isn’t viable because of the spread and the fact that mum is already struggling with symptoms. I also worry how she will cope if they do give her chemo and how much time she might have left.. is chemo worth it? I know I am asking impossible questions but desperate to know :( 

  • A very warm welcome to Cancer Chat Raya although I'm really sorry to hear your mum has been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer.

    This must be incredibly difficult for you both, especially with her health declining, but I'm sure the hospice will look after your mum really well and hopefully that oncology appointment will come through soon.

    Unfortunately I'm unable to say what oncology will say or offer in terms of treatment, but our team of cancer nurses may be able to help so if you'd like to get their thoughts on this, you can contact them on 0808 800 4040, Monday - Friday between 9a.m - 5p.m. They're really easy to talk to and will do all they can to answer your questions and support you.

    I'm sure some of our members will stop by when they can to offer their support and advice to you as well but in the meantime, we're all thinking of you Raya and sending all our strength to you at this very challenging time.

    Kind regards,

    Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator