Hi Jort,

So sorry to read about your Mam and that she has gone so long without her cancer being diagnosed.
It isn't unusual to not be given a timescale, unless you or your Mam have actually asked for one. Doctors tend to be hesitant to give any sort of dates because it is hard to predict, but it is worth pressing them for an answer. Asking "would you be surprised if ..." sometimes works better than asking how long have I got?"

Good luck


 

Yes I'd have to agree - I think they really do try to avoid speculating on life expectancy for a number of reasons.

Firstly it is hard to predict someone can be doing really well and then a sudden complication can set in and things can do downhill rapidly or people can do unexpectedly well and really beat the odds.

Secondly it's not something you can take back once you've told someone and not everybody wants to know. You may want an answer to that question but does your mother?

but for what it's worth you can look here:

www.cancerresearchuk.org/.../statistics-and-outlook-for-pancreatic-cancer

You want the section advanced stages where cancer has spread to another part of the body