few options for pancreas cancer

The diagnosis of pancreas cancer was made on the 22nd of June. The cancer had spread to the liver and it was through a fine needle aspiration (FNA) that the cancer was identified. An FNA is a type of biopsy - a 5 inch needle was inserted into lesions in the liver through the stomach. This was done with the help of ultrasound. Cancer originating in the pancreas had spread to the liver.

Most types of cancer offer some hope. If they are caught early, the cancer may be cut out, radiation and chemotherapy may be used and the cancer is often cured.

Pancreas is usually identified when it has become very advanced. It could be through abdominal or back pain, loss of appetite.Symptoms may appear when the enlarged pancreas presses against other organs or when the cancer has spread to adjacent or more distant organs.

Once the cancer has spread, surgery and radiation are ruled out. The only option is chemotherapy.

In my case, the cancer was identified as stage IV cancer. There is no cure. Perhaps 25% of patients respond to chemotherapy. The prognosis is very poor - statistically less than a year. However, I have been responding well to the treatment and life could be extended by many years. Perhaps over that time, more effective treatments will be found.

There are few other options available, but a positive attitude, the will to overcome this cancer and a belief in the possibility of a cure can make a massive difference. One way of achieving this is through the unconscious mind. Guided imagery or visualisation may be used as tools to use the power of the mind to help reverse the cancer.

My next chemo cycle begins on Monday.