A comprehensive cancer center is a great place for your sister to be seen. I'm glad she's going to an appointment there. Ask the surgeon if there is potential that if chemo/radiation shrinks the tumor enough, could it then make surgery an option? I have no idea, but that has happened with people I know with other cancers. My sister wasn't a surgery candidate for another reason but then after the chemo/radiation, she was. It wasn't successful, but they were able to try. But she's still doing very well. She doesn't have pancreatic mind you, but sometimes it helps to hear of other people doing well beyond what the median survival time is.
And that is the only number a doctor can really give you, median survival. At this time, half of the people with this stage of this disease are still alive, half are not. Then there are many reasons why what happens to the population isn't indicative of what will happen to any one person. No one person is a statistic. No doctor knows how long anyone has to live. They know what the population statistics tell them. I'm always dismayed when I hear of doctors telling anyone "you have X months to live". This is all horrid enough, without being told a defined timeframe. My sister was told that 23 months was the median for her disease, that was hard enough. I'm glad she wasn't told that she had 23 months to live. Next week will be 49 months.
I'm so sorry you and your family are going through this. I understand all too well how it feels to sit there feeling so helpless while your sister is in a battle like this. It sounds like you are doing everything you can for her, but the powerless feeling totally s*&#s. I have a good bit of experience in this area - both professionally and 49 months as a sister to a cancer patient. If I can do anything, don't hesitate to PM me.
You and your sister are in my prayers!
