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Comment About Pancreatic Cancer from someone who knows (Score 4, Informative) 10

This is something I know about because eight years ago I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I was very lucky as it was caught by mistake while looking for something else. I am the only survivor I've ever met. Most folks don't know what's going on inside them until they're too far gone. Our ability to deal with pancreatic cancer has hardly changed since the 1930s when Allan Whipple pioneered the surgery that bears his name. If the cancer has spread at all the Whipple is not performed. That covers most folks with the disease. In Whipple surgery your digestive system is removed from your body and placed on a table. That allows access to the pancreas which is behind most everything. After the head of the pancreas is removed you're put back together, but not in the same order nor in the place they began. Google "Whipple surgery" and look at the diagrams. Chemo and radiation can be used (I know) but that's like fighting a wildfire with a garden hose. It's life extension in the shortest terms. I have never met another survivor.

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