I am a 48- year- old man and my doctor recently told me that I have pancreatic cancer. To be honest, I didn’t even know what a pancreas was until my diagnosis and now I am not sure how to proceed with my treatment. Three weeks ago, I went for a check-up after my eyes became yellow. I thought maybe I had hepatitis or some other liver infection, but my doctor didn’t think so and decided to do tests. He was concerned because I had also lost a lot of weight in the past six months despite no change in diet. Blood tests and a scan of my belly showed that I have pancreatic cancer. I am not convinced of my diagnosis since I do not have any abdominal pain (surely how can an organ have cancer yet not give you pain?). In addition, isn’t jaundice a sign of liver disease? How does pancreatic cancer give jaundice yet the pancreas and the liver are two separate organs? Finally, my doctor says I might need radical surgery which even involves cutting out part of my intestines— isn’t this too extreme? Why can’t they just remove the affected part of the pancreas or just give me medication/chemotherapy?
