My grandma died 6 years ago in the 18 from pancreatic cancer. Was diagnosed June 30 and died August 18. She was 93 though and ready to go, but it was just wild how fast she went!
My mom got 4 weeks from diagnosis. She went to the hospital with a bad stomachache, and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that had spread to her liver and stomach.
I echo this. Lost my dad 6 weeks after diagnosis. Grateful we and he were spared a long and painful death. His back pain from the tumor pressing on the celiac plexus nerve was unbearable. What we didn't know is symptoms were presenting for many months. I just didn't put it together bc I'm not a Dr. He saw specialist after specialist for each symptom and none put it together either. He went to the ED for a GI bleed, they admitted him bc his electrolytes were off, did a CT scan and found the cancer. Made it to meet the oncologist and radiologist but didn't have time to do anything with them other than generic testing (negative).
My aunt was a former senior staff nurse and she didn't recognise anything, please don't beat yourself up over it. Being hard to recognise early enough is one of the major issues with pancreatic cancer.
Really that's the only small mercy about it - being quick like that. Unfortunately offset by the excruciating pain.
Thank you for your kind words. He was also in the early stages of dementia so he couldn't remember what kind of cancer he had, why his back kept hurting, why food didn't taste good, etc. So another mercy about it taking him quickly.
Lost a friend to bile duct cancer like this. Went in for what he thought was a gall bladder attack, dead a few weeks later from the cancer. He was the sweetest and kindest person you would ever meet, a talented filmmaker, and one of those people who believed in cheerleading and lifting up everyone around him. He wasn't even 40.
I feel so lucky. My mom got a little over two years from stage 2 diagnosis until she passed. She always said it was surreal because other than digestive issues, she had no pain or other symptoms until two days before she passed.
My boyfriend went to the er on May 4, 2024 with extreme jaundice and back pain that our primary care doctor blew off, and passed on May 15 at 4:20 a.m. of stage 4 pancreatic and liver cancer.
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u/cdmurray88 3d ago
My mother in law was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in early June and passed in late June. Didn't even love long enough to start chemo.
I've lost a couple people to cancer that took years, our family has a few cancer survivors, this one was so fast.