In April 2009 my brother was 54 & seemingly healthy. He rode his bike everyday, worked long hours at his job,(sound technician for bands) & was not overweight. He complained of a bad stomach ache for about a month. Since he was really never sick, he just thought it would go away. Got so painful he went the ER. After numerous tests & drainage of 4 liters of fluid from his belly they diagnosed him with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Doctor said it was too late for surgery & did not recommend chemo or radiation because of the bad side effects. He didn't want any of this either. He passed away 3 1/2 weeks later. It spread thruout his body like wildfire. Very hard to watch him deteriorate so quickly.

I agree that this is hard to diagnois but there is hope! I had NO symptoms at all. I had had acis reflux for years but under control with diet. I actually fell and hurt my hip Feb 2007. In April my chiropractor suggested I see my medical doctor.My hip was fine but routine blood work showed my liver enzymes high. I went thru numerous test and 3 CT scans that showed nothing. I did have a bile duct blocked and they inserted a stint. Finally on April30, 2007 I had severe pain and was hospitalized. Another scan finally revealed a tumor on the head of my pancreas.I had a 13 hr surgery on May 15,2007 and chemo and radiation. I refused to give up and never will. I forced myself to stay positive and even returned to work 6 weeks later, which was the hardest thing to do. I have now had 4 CT scans and all have been clear. If you are caring for a loved one, just bee there for them and give them all the support that you can. DO NOT GIVE UP !! My oncologist says, watch for weight loss, change in color of urine or stool, itching or low back pain. All are signs that I never had but that I watch for daily. I WILL beat this and so can others if caught in time.

My mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in march of 08' , she was 61 years old. she regularly saw her dr. due to high blood pressure. in nov. of 07' she was diagnosed with diabetes ( which there is NO family history of ) and high liver enzymes, which they pushed aside seeing as one of her blood pressure meds. was known to cause the liver enzymes to rise. she had TERRIBLE heart burn and lived off of mylanta ... and was in extreme pain thinking it was an ulcer. she finally couldnt take it and went to the dr. who rushed her to the e.r. , he knew it wasn't an ulcer. the ct scan revealed a 4cm tumor on the head of the pancreas and it had metastisized to her stomach liver and left adrenile gland. now, over a year later, she is in hospice in her final days - it has spread to her lungs , and brain .. horrible disease - my mother smoked for most of her life .... i suggest if you feel something is wrong and the dr. is making light of a situation u should go wit ur gut instinct and have them look into it further

My husband has finally received a definitive diagnosis of pancreatic cancer as of th 15th of August. He has a history of chronic pancreatitis. The symptoms of the cancer started in October of 07 with flu like symptoms, including a pain in the middle of the back, burning in the r & l upper quadrants of the abdomen. There were intermittant severe bouts of nausea, vomiting and diahrea. There was and still is dramatic weight loss of more than 60 pounds, with no dieting.The symptoms were treated but no tests were done until late January of 08. Still nothing definitive. More tests and a CT with contrast in May 08. Still nothing, although the quality of the CT was terrible. A repeat in July showed that there was a 3cm growth in the head of the pancreas. This was verified at Mayo clinic in August 08. If there is a history of chronic pancreatitis, heavy drinking and/or smoking, a family history of cancer, get to the best hospital you can or at least have your own physicians and hospital give you the records so that you can request a consultation with a Dr at a facility that has a lot of experience with pancreatic cancer. Many times you can make the call for a referral yourself. I hope that this helps.

Both my mother and mother in law died from Pancreatic Cancer. Both were 71 years old at the time of death. Both did NOT smoke or drink alchohol. Both had been overweight. My mother was type 2 diabetic for 15 to 20 years. My mother was loosing weight with out trying and complained of back pain. My mother's family doctor dismissed her back pain to arthritis. He missed the Diagnosis of cancer.

Both my mother in law and mother had digestive problems over the years. I found various vintages of Tums and laxitives after my mother had died in her medicine cabinet . Same thing with my mother in law with antacids and stomach medications. My mother in law had a sensitive digestive system and thought she had IBS or lactose intollerance. Never quite pinning down a diagnosis. My mother became jaundice and died 4 months later from pancreatic cancer.

My mother in law was diagnosed earlier and due to newer chemotherapy drugs available did try them. I believe chemo drugs worked for about 5 or 6 months before they no longer shrank the tumors and were ineffective. A CT scan confirmed her diagnosis of Pancreatic cancer after upper and lower GI testing showed nothing. She had GI tests because she had a lot of indigestion and adominal pain after eating. CT scan was ordered after she complained of bloating up like she was pregnant after eating. Eventually she would throw up her food and liquids and had palative surgery so she could eat. Mother in law then fell and broke her arm and hip. That was the end of Chemo therapy. She went down hill fast. Falling a second time and a bruise on her tail bone turned into a pressure sore (bed sore) resulting in a terrible smelling sore which caused sepsis and her ultimate demise. What a painful and awful death that no one deserves. Hospice was involved with my mother in law's illness. They are wonderful. Hospice helps the cancer patient and the family as well in so many ways.

Sue

My mom died 8 years ago from Pancreatic Cancer. By the time we finally figured out that there was a real issue it was too late. She died 3 weeks after being diagnosed. The first things I noticed were her being especially forgetful such as leaving a pot on the burner and then having it start on fire. That went on for several months. Then, she started complaining of having flu-like symptoms. She had these for MONTHS and never got herself checked. I also remember emails to me where she described feeling very tired and nervous in her stomach - like butterflies. The 3 months before she passed away, she started sleeping a LOT, which was highly unusual for her. I mean bed at 7pm for a woman used to being a night owl. I remember spending Thanksgiving with her (she died in March) and instead of doing lots of activities with me, she just spent the whole 2 weeks in bed. So, I would say prolonged flu symptoms and extreme fatigue that does not go away in a normal amount of time would be your first clues. By the way, others have mentioned yellowing of the skin. She never had that. And, we knew she was close to death when she no longer cared what was in the mail that day - she cared up until 2 days before she went to the hospital.

Praying you or a loved one don't have this.

My father passed from Pancreatic cancer 8 years ago. He was an extremely healthy man. Did not smoke and only had an occasional beer on weekends after doing yard work.

He started having trouble digesting his food and became tired easily. Then he started itching uncontrollably and then the whites of his eyes turned yellow.

He was diagonosed in November and had wipple surgery at Duke in December. It was a horrible decision. His quality of life after that was awful. He changed completely...personality, temperment etc.

It was a very hard illness to watch as he wasted away to nothing.

It would have been better to control his pain with meds and let him live happily and not so messed up from the surgery and chemo.

My mother was diagnosed in July of 2004 with pancreatic cancer and she died on October 30th of that same year. Previous to that for weeks or months she was unable to eat without feeling sick. We were all looking up things about her symptoms online and it seemed to us it was Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), but when she became bed ridden due to being so ill, that is when we got her to the hospital for further tests. She had already had some tests but the pancreas cancer did not show up. But, finally in the hospital they found her to have pancreatic cancer. She did not smoke or drink ever, except in her very young years. She was 77 when she died. She could not eat anything without getting sick, so as a result she basically starved to death and looked like a victim of the Holocaust. It was such a horrendous death to see our precious mother wasting away in such a slow torturous way. It may have only been 3 months from diagnosis that she died but it seemed like an eternity because she was literally starving to death unable to hold even a drink down. I didn't know how horribly a person could suffer until watching our dear mother die from this horrible disease.

My husband is 63 and has been diagnosed with liver disease. He has been an alcholic for 40+ years. He has lost weight and has an extended stomach. He was tapped 2 months ago and 6 liters of liquid was drained. He now needs to be tapped again. Depression and tired has taken over and naps everyday. He can no longer find the energy to work. These symptons seem to be what I have been reading on this site for pancreatic cancer. My question how do you know if it is liver disease or pancreatic cancer?. We have lost our insurance and he is now at the mercy of the VA. Different doctors etc. every time he goes in. Any suggestions?

A family member passed away recently after battling this cancer for 3 years. We were lucky to have her for so long after she was diagnosed.

She had an upset bowel system,lost about 15 pounds and had an unusual rash around the area of her liver in the year and a half before she was diagnosed. we found out that the rash is one of the early early symptoms.

she was misdiagnosed over and over until she was finally diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

My mother passed away four years ago from this disease. Yellowing of the skin as well as her eyes was something I noticed (Jaundice was a sign). Sometimes she was fatique (but it may not be unusual because sometimes I think she overworked herself.) She had a lot of bowel issues (She thought a major company's correctal over the counter medication would solve her issue), but at the same time, she took it quite often. (She was ill, it was really a back and forth thing.) Unreal, My mother's condition was unoperable because her tumor was attached to her main life line artery (according to the doctors). I don't think there is a cure for it (according to the statistics). She often had good days ( I couldn't believe she was terminally ill). I think it's a FAST acting cancer! Death from this cancer is inimate. I think I read a book once of one person surviving this disease after a year of being diagnoised)., other than that (I doubt that person is alive today). No one usually survives this disease. It's just a matter of time. (I found out all my information after-the-fact). History indiates that there is usallly a history of smoking and drinking. My mother drank heavily (over 15 years ago) and smoked before she was diagnoised. My hopes were high. I thought she would beat this cancer because she was so strong! I am still in shock because she appeared so well months prior to her death, but then all of a sudden one day, she became really ill. It was definitely not a consistant sickness where the symptoms are always there. (When she was well, but yet diagnoised, I just knew she had beat this disease). She cooked dinner for me, cleaned my house, and in some instances continued doing her part time job. Diagnoised in December, hospitalized in maybe February, April, and July. She passed in August. So this disease is really wierd and misunderstood and a fast killer! This is not a joke, I am for real. I just personally think if you're diagnoised with this disease you might as well prepare your loved ones ahead of time.

My father died of pancreatic cancer. He was diagnosed on January 15th and died on May 4th.

He had pain in his back and had trouble with his blood sugar levels prior to diagnosis. His doctor thought he might be getting diabetes. He went from an active vibrant fun loving person to weak and dying within 2 months. It was horrible

My mother died of pancreatic cancer 71 days after diagnosis, but had vague symptoms for months. She felt bloated a lot of the time and complained of some back pain (which we thought was due to her osteoporosis and osteoarthritis). She just felt rather unwell. She did try once dose of Gemzar, which made her very ill, and she went rapidly downhill after that. She did not smoke and rarely had a drink.

the first thing, I THINK, is trouble eating. It feels like your food doesn't go down all the way. pain just above the stomach with back pain. this isn't always a sign of cancer but possibly excessive alcohol consumption which attacks the pancreas usually before the liver. The pain is tough to take.

My husband had flu like symptoms for days. He would eat/drink and it would come right back up within minutes. He really had no fever, diarhea, discoloring or anything but the constant vomiting. Doctors have a hard time diagnosing because it could be so many things.

Pancreatic cancer is a horrible disease. I lost my Dad to the disease 21 days after he was diagnosed as well as one uncle. I believe there is a clear correlation between alcoholism, cigarette smoking and pancreatic cancer. In fact a family friend who was a recovered alcoholic and past smoker succumbed to the disease 10 years after AA. The symptoms were jaundiced sclera and skin, severe abdominal pain , distended appearance to the abdomen (as if he were pregnant ) and extreme fatigue. I remember all he could keep down in his stomach were ice chips until he slipped into a morphine induced coma.

systoms are hard to nail down because it mimics so many otherthings.My husband had diarria, yellow cast to his skin,and intense itching,Ive also heard that your poop floats because you have n fat in it. Hope this helps

I've seen no mention of depression; of the general sense of uneasiness or loss of well being that I have read often accompanies pancreatic cancer. Has anyone had an experience with that? I was a Hospice SW for about 5 yrs so I saw many deaths from every possible natural cause possible.

I would just be interested in an account of how a person, dealing with this illness, may have developed personality changes as a precursor to diagnosis.

I am a six year survivor of Pancreas Cancer (Adenocarcinoma, not the more curable type) I am completely cancer free and have been released from the Cancer treatment center. My earky symptoms were uncontrollable itching at night which felt like it was coming from inside my skin and my urine turning bright orange. These came and went however so I didn't take them too seriously. I was 54 years old and in good health. Had never smoked or drank alcohol. I was tired but also in the throes of my daughters wedding plus teaching highschool full time so who wouldn't be. Several friends mentioned to me that I was jaundiced at my daughters wedding reception. (I thought I just looked tan) I went to my first Drs. appt two days after. Luckily my Dr. kept pushing for an answer after the tests came back negative for hepatitis. I was ready to just forget it but he said there was a reason that had happened (the jaundice was gone by then) and we needed to find out what it was. Thank goodness for him! He sent me for an ultra sound then a CT scan on the first day of school and they found a 5cm tumor on the head of the pancreas which had also encapsulated the bile duct and a major artery. Most Drs. would not touch it but I was lucky enough to find one at St. Marks Hops in SLC who would and he did a whipple followed by chemo and radiation and was able to remove all traces of the tumor. It took 12 hours with two surgeons who had a great deal of skill (one was a major transplant surgeon). So....my advice is don't take no for a answer, there is always hope and find a very skilled surgeon.

I will be a 3 year survivor in Dec. First to comment on what you wrote. Pancreatic cancer is the 4th leading cause to death amoungst cancers. This year they expect 44K people to be diagnosed and 95% of the people die. It is hard to detect. I had complained to doctors for years with the symptons, but no one would listen. Doctors need to be aware. Novemeber is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. Educate people about the cancer. One major sign I had was my insulin levels were way up, abdominal pain, fatigue, felt sick for over a year. Doctors had done blood work, etc. but the doctors did not take it a step further to test for more complicated things. I was told to go see that dr. or that dr. I was not allowed to see my primary care until I went to a psychiatris. Thank you, Dawnella