FARK.com: (9807797) Sad update to Otto's Jacket's thread from November 17, 2017 when he had just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He passed away a week later

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		Sad update to Otto's Jacket's thread from November 17, 2017 when he had just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He passed away a week later (cancer.org)		146
		More: Scary, pancreatic cancer, Cancer, cancer.org website experience, Oncology, Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, pancreatic cancer treatment, American Cancer Society, Pancreas

• • •

4567 clicks; posted to Main » and Discussion » on 19 Jan 2018 at 11:49 AM (6 years ago) | Favorite | share: Copy Link

146 Comments (+0 »)

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WTFDYW

2017-11-17 8:37:29 PM

I don't know who you are but I'm hoping for the best for you.
How far along are you?
What were your symptoms?

jasonvatch

2017-11-17 8:42:38 PM

I know someone who works in nuclear medicine. He mentioned an observation he had made, that when a new patient walks in the door, if he smells coffee, it's likely the pancreas. I, of course, cannot verify this claim; your mileage will vary.

But if you're an extreme coffee drinker, you might consider cutting back.

derpes_simplex

2017-11-17 9:00:14 PM

An old friend managed to beat it for about 7 years, even went into complete remission. In the end it still got him, but he had lots of quality living in the interim, spent a lot of time with his grandson, and racked up lots of concerts and bucket list stuff. Sadly, that's the best outcome I know of.

Lorelle

2017-11-17 9:06:17 PM

My father died from pancreatic cancer 17 years ago. He lived a little over 4 months after the diagnosis. He had pancreatitis the year before.

I'm so very sorry, Subby. Seeing this thread makes me want to cry. :(

Firm Tautology

2017-11-17 9:09:05 PM

I have an uncle who had a cancerous pancreas completely removed about 12 or so years ago. He's had other problems that have added to his frailness, but he's still going. I think it's largely because my aunt has a PhD in Biology and is absolutely rabid about his care.

Lorelle

2017-11-17 9:12:13 PM

Firm Tautology: I have an uncle who had a cancerous pancreas completely removed about 12 or so years ago. He's had other problems that have added to his frailness, but he's still going. I think it's largely because my aunt has a PhD in Biology and is absolutely rabid about his care.

Pancreatic cancer has a 5% survival rate. Your uncle is one of the lucky ones.

jaylectricity

2017-11-17 9:15:36 PM

I have an awesome story of pancreatic cancer. I've never had it and that's awesome.

But it really sucks if you do or somebody you love does. I hope things work out the best for you.

basemetal

2017-11-17 9:22:07 PM

I know two ten year survivors. It was rough, but they made it.

dodecahedron

2017-11-17 9:30:49 PM

Depends whether it is neuroendocrine or exocrine. Neither are good but the first is treatable for a longer while.
I'm sorry for this news, Subby. Don't put yourself through a lot of medical hell if you don't have to.

harleyquinnical

2017-11-17 9:51:35 PM

Sorry to hear this news, subby

GardenWeasel

2017-11-17 9:51:38 PM

Sadly no. My uncle was diagnosed when he was 75, but it was already late-stage by that point and he died 3 months later. As with all cancers, it matters how early you detect it.

Marcus Aurelius

2017-11-17 9:59:20 PM

Both of my parents died of pancreatic cancer, as did my paternal grandfather.

Settle your affairs.

Marcus Aurelius

2017-11-17 10:01:32 PM

jasonvatch: if he smells coffee

It's a coffee like smell, but related to the malfunctioning of the pancreatic juices. Stomach acids are neutralized by the pancreas.

Normally.

Devolving_Spud

2017-11-17 10:02:00 PM

I don't know you, but I've certainly had enough friends and family have cancer. Some win the battle, some lose the battle. Whichever path you ultimately take, take the time to make good on any past bad things you may have done. I lost both parents to it, and we were able to talk over all our past mistakes and bad judgement calls, and the love and forgiveness was able to destroy pretty much all of the pain of the past. Cancer is a shiatty bunch of lemons for life to give anyone, but it can make a decent glass or two of lemonade.

I do wish you the best of success!

_{//it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that I'm eventually going to be in your shoes.}

Marcus Aurelius

2017-11-17 10:02:12 PM

Firm Tautology: I have an uncle who had a cancerous pancreas completely removed about 12 or so years ago

Post his diet, I'd love to know.

Recoil Therapy

2017-11-17 10:03:37 PM

Seriously good luck. I hope that they caught it early

harleyquinnical

2017-11-17 10:04:53 PM

GardenWeasel: Sadly no. My uncle was diagnosed when he was 75, but it was already late-stage by that point and he died 3 months later. As with all cancers, it matters how early you detect it.

With Pancreatic cancer, usually early detection is not enough. One of my favorite animators and directors died about 7 years ago. They caught it early, but he was still only given a prognosis of 6 months. I was so sad then, and I get sad everytime I hear someone is diagnosed with that voracious and insidious cancer.

2xhelix

2017-11-17 10:05:55 PM

After losing my best friend to it, all I can say is that when it's clear chemo isn't working, just give it up and don't continue torturing yourself.

WTFDYW

2017-11-17 10:16:10 PM

I really didn't know what to to say in my Boobies. But now that I have gotten my shiat together, please make sure things are in order as much as possible. I wish you well whom ever you are. Take care of yourself fellow Farker. Follow doctors orders.

jasonvatch

2017-11-17 10:21:37 PM

Marcus Aurelius: jasonvatch: if he smells coffee

It's a coffee like smell, but related to the malfunctioning of the pancreatic juices. Stomach acids are neutralized by the pancreas.

Normally.

Thank you. Live and learn.

Marcus Aurelius

2017-11-17 10:31:50 PM

jasonvatch: Thank you. Live and learn.

/wayyyy too soon

Kittypie070

2017-11-17 10:33:49 PM

PreMortem

2017-11-17 10:41:17 PM

I used pancreatitis as an excuse to call off work one day. You can probably get at least a week with that.

casey17

2017-11-17 10:42:42 PM

It's something I fear every day. My bff died from it in the early 00's & she was in her early 40's. Docs won't test for it unless you exhibit "symptoms", so you're screwed either way. I wish the best for you Subby.

Archie Goodwin

2017-11-17 10:45:19 PM

Well that sucks.

Lessee here, thoughts and prayers are for gun threads, hmmm, I know -

Firm Tautology

2017-11-17 10:45:49 PM

Marcus Aurelius: Firm Tautology: I have an uncle who had a cancerous pancreas completely removed about 12 or so years ago

Post his diet, I'd love to know.

All I know is that it's an all liquid diet because he had to have some reconstruction surgery to his jaw and now it doesn't work so well.

Marcus Aurelius

2017-11-17 10:46:45 PM

PreMortem: I used pancreatitis as an excuse to call off work one day. You can probably get at least a week with that.

You can get life.

Marcus Aurelius

2017-11-17 10:47:41 PM

Firm Tautology: Marcus Aurelius: Firm Tautology: I have an uncle who had a cancerous pancreas completely removed about 12 or so years ago

Post his diet, I'd love to know.

All I know is that it's an all liquid diet because he had to have some reconstruction surgery to his jaw and now it doesn't work so well.

Sounds like a great way to get vegetables. I have a new blender on the way, I'm going to put a hurting on my green grocer.

Marcus Aurelius

2017-11-17 10:49:47 PM

casey17: It's something I fear every day. My bff died from it in the early 00's & she was in her early 40's. Docs won't test for it unless you exhibit "symptoms", so you're screwed either way. I wish the best for you Subby.
[img.fark.net image 500x215]

You can get an ultrasound for not all that much, assuming you have insurance. Good to have a baseline. Even better to avoid tobacco and alcohol.

LadySusan

2017-11-17 10:54:34 PM

No good news here subby. Lost two co-workers. Sometimes there's only thoughts and prayers. Well, and whiskey. And cocaine. And unprotected sex with strangers. And rock and roll. Sky diving. Telling your boss to fark off. Eating fugu. Mountain climbing in winter. Living with grizzlies. Telling your wife she looks fat in those pants. Disobeying the HOA rules. Mowing fark you into your front lawn.

dickfreckle

2017-11-17 10:55:13 PM

Aw jeez, subby. I know a survivor (pancreatic). It's been 8 years and he still shows up at dawn to clean several bars on Bourbon St. A job a very sick person could not do (I wouldn't be able to do it with a hangover). We don't discuss the details of his case, but I think the sheer will to survive is part of it. Get pissed, flip some birds.

Gubbo

2017-11-17 10:56:54 PM

I'm truly sorry subby. Good luck. I'm afraid you're gonna need it.

/Fark cancer

themindiswatching

2017-11-17 11:12:52 PM

This is one of the bad cancers, isn't it?

/cancer isn't great, but some are "better" than others

Marcus Aurelius

2017-11-17 11:22:14 PM

LadySusan: Eating fugu

This is actually a good idea.

Once.

geom_00

2017-11-17 11:45:46 PM

I have no fighting advice. I am so sorry, Subby

/I wish you the best of luck!

LadySusan

2017-11-17 11:58:45 PM

Marcus Aurelius: LadySusan: Eating fugu

This is actually a good idea.

Once.

From a street vendor in Guadalajara

SurfaceTension

2017-11-17 11:59:29 PM

All I know about it is that the Notorious RGB survived it.

Bith Set Me Up

2017-11-18 12:10:04 AM

Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

Good luck to you, subby.

derpes_simplex

2017-11-18 12:18:17 AM

derpes_simplex: An old friend managed to beat it for about 7 years, even went into complete remission. In the end it still got him, but he had lots of quality living in the interim, spent a lot of time with his grandson, and racked up lots of concerts and bucket list stuff. Sadly, that's the best outcome I know of.

I should have mentioned, that while I don't know the exact details, he had a surgery that removed some or perhaps all of the pancreas. Not sure which. Pretty sure he did chemo too. He recalled it being a biatch to recover from that surgery, but he was telling me this as we hung out on his back porch smoking a joint and pulling old PA equipment out of storage, and loading it up for a show. I seem to recall him saying that treatment farked him over for a good six months or more, but that he felt it was 100% worth it. This conversation was 6 or more years after the surgery, and before the relapse. Obviously I'm not giving medical advice here, just relaying my old pal's story best I can remember.

Bith Set Me Up

2017-11-18 12:26:00 AM

harleyquinnical: GardenWeasel: Sadly no. My uncle was diagnosed when he was 75, but it was already late-stage by that point and he died 3 months later. As with all cancers, it matters how early you detect it.

With Pancreatic cancer, usually early detection is not enough. One of my favorite animators and directors died about 7 years ago. They caught it early, but he was still only given a prognosis of 6 months. I was so sad then, and I get sad everytime I hear someone is diagnosed with that voracious and insidious cancer.

Patrick Swayze discovered his pancreatic cancer early. He was expected to last a few months, but he got to 20 months before passing away.

Stay strong.

MrBallou

2017-11-18 12:31:26 AM

A couple of months ago, I attended a memorial service of a friend who had fought pancreatic cancer for 4 years. She was declared clean twice, only to have it come back. She was finally so worn out she couldn't fight any more.

At the funeral, I met a guy who was a good friend of the lady. Just a week later, he was diagnosed with the same cancer. The difference is, he didn't even get a chance to start therapy. I'm going to his memorial service tomorrow.

8 inches

2017-11-18 12:33:18 AM

Cancer survivor here. If you're like me, you may be thinking about all of the things you've never got around to doing in your life. Once you beat this motherfu#$er, do them.

Ambivalence

2017-11-18 12:49:17 AM

At work, the guy I sit next to died yesterday from a brain aneurysm. He was alive and fine, cracking dad jokes and talking about his wonderful little daughter, and then just gone the next day. He's not even a person anymore, just a memory.

I don't know what your prognosis is, subby, but my only recommendation is don't run from it, you'll only die tired. Don't run from the pain, don't run from the fear. Keep living until you stop and be present for all of it. Maybe my friend got off easy, but I can't think of a worse way to go. No opportunity to say goodbye, no opportunity to come to peace with what's happening. We all leave this world and become a memory. Make it a good memory. Make it the best memory.

Firm Tautology

2017-11-18 1:07:55 AM

Ambivalence: At work, the guy I sit next to died yesterday from a brain aneurysm. He was alive and fine, cracking dad jokes and talking about his wonderful little daughter, and then just gone the next day. He's not even a person anymore, just a memory.

I don't know what your prognosis is, subby, but my only recommendation is don't run from it, you'll only die tired. Don't run from the pain, don't run from the fear. Keep living until you stop and be present for all of it. Maybe my friend got off easy, but I can't think of a worse way to go. No opportunity to say goodbye, no opportunity to come to peace with what's happening. We all leave this world and become a memory. Make it a good memory. Make it the best memory.

Goddamn that's beautiful.

foo monkey

2017-11-18 1:14:06 AM

Something something awkward and black-humored. Um, Steve Jobs...

Got nothin'.

Otto's_Jacket

2017-11-18 1:22:02 AM

Hey all - Subby here.

I'm a 49-year old man who has had few if any health issues in my life. Two weeks ago (Sunday 11/5), I was raking leaves in my front yard when I started to lose my breath, sweat profusely, and was lucky to make it into my garage. Within 10 minutes I had a shockingly strong pain shooting up my right side and under my collarbone.

My wife luckily helped me find a comfortable position in the car and off to the hospital we went. After an MRI and a few other tests I was admitted with "Poorly Differentiated Carcinoma" and then put through an absolute battery of tests for the next 5 days, including a pain like no other called the liver biopsy. Three times.

The Cat Scan finally showed a cyst in my pancreas that is 'leaking' cancer into my liver, so even though I'm not sure what category the cyst is I'm probably looking at 12-18 months. I've already been in contact with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network to help me find an excellent second opinion here in Denver, but I also need a little time to let reality sink in sooner rather than later.

I really need to go to bed now and I appreciate the mods for bumping up the time that this posted so I could thank each and every one of you for the kind wishes, the advice from those of you who have been in my shoes, and you nasty a-holes that have kept me coming back here day after day, year after year.

I'll check back tomorrow morning and will have time to answer questions if you have any. Otherwise I'll just read and smile...thank you, Farkers, for being such an immeasurable part of my adulthood.

xanthippe

2017-11-18 1:42:35 AM

derpes_simplex: derpes_simplex: An old friend managed to beat it for about 7 years, even went into complete remission. In the end it still got him, but he had lots of quality living in the interim, spent a lot of time with his grandson, and racked up lots of concerts and bucket list stuff. Sadly, that's the best outcome I know of.

I should have mentioned, that while I don't know the exact details, he had a surgery that removed some or perhaps all of the pancreas. Not sure which. Pretty sure he did chemo too. He recalled it being a biatch to recover from that surgery, but he was telling me this as we hung out on his back porch smoking a joint and pulling old PA equipment out of storage, and loading it up for a show. I seem to recall him saying that treatment farked him over for a good six months or more, but that he felt it was 100% worth it. This conversation was 6 or more years after the surgery, and before the relapse. Obviously I'm not giving medical advice here, just relaying my old pal's story best I can remember.

Hi, your friend probably had the whipple procedure , which works for a few lucky souls with stage I carcinoma in a specific portion of the pancreas that can be removed along with adjacent portions of the alimentary track that have also been exposed to the carcinoma. Your friend is really lucky..

discgolfguru

2017-11-18 1:43:39 AM

Otto's_Jacket: Hey all - Subby here.

I'm a 49-year old man who has had few if any health issues in my life. Two weeks ago (Sunday 11/5), I was raking leaves in my front yard when I started to lose my breath, sweat profusely, and was lucky to make it into my garage. Within 10 minutes I had a shockingly strong pain shooting up my right side and under my collarbone.

My wife luckily helped me find a comfortable position in the car and off to the hospital we went. After an MRI and a few other tests I was admitted with "Poorly Differentiated Carcinoma" and then put through an absolute battery of tests for the next 5 days, including a pain like no other called the liver biopsy. Three times.

The Cat Scan finally showed a cyst in my pancreas that is 'leaking' cancer into my liver, so even though I'm not sure what category the cyst is I'm probably looking at 12-18 months. I've already been in contact with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network to help me find an excellent second opinion here in Denver, but I also need a little time to let reality sink in sooner rather than later.

I really need to go to bed now and I appreciate the mods for bumping up the time that this posted so I could thank each and every one of you for the kind wishes, the advice from those of you who have been in my shoes, and you nasty a-holes that have kept me coming back here day after day, year after year.

I'll check back tomorrow morning and will have time to answer questions if you have any. Otherwise I'll just read and smile...thank you, Farkers, for being such an immeasurable part of my adulthood.

I don't know anyone who dealt with that particular type, but I have nothing but good wishes for you. Rest much, eat good food, kiss the people you love, and fight the bad stuff as much as you can. I guess that's how we should all pretty much all live, really. Funny how we don't do it until we have to.

geom_00

2017-11-18 2:15:04 AM

That is the best advice I've heard in a long time, for a lot of situations.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart for posting that

liltingbanshee

2017-11-18 2:15:24 AM

I hope you get the best of care and live long and well.

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