My grandmother, who is 81 years old, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer about a week ago. Her radiologist said that there is a partial encasement of the super mesenteric artery and super mesenteric vein and mild peripancreatic infiltration of fat and small lymph nodes.
We have consulted with two surgeons. One surgeon recommended chemotherapy first to increase chances of the tumor resectability. But another surgeon said that he can deal with an encasement of the artery and vein and suggested a radical surgery (whipple). He also said that infiltration of fat and lymph nodes might make the whipple surgery impossible but he won’t know that until he opens my grandmother up. In that case the radical surgery would turn into palliative. Surgery is scheduled for friday, july 8, which leaves little time to get yet another opinion without postponing the surgery.
All of this uncertainty among doctors makes us very nervous. Should we go ahead with the scheduled surgery or should we consider chemotherapy first? Does the infiltration of the lymph nodes make the chemotherapy as the preparation for surgery out of the question? Are there any other methods to assess resectability (laparoscopy)? Does resectability, as far as partial encasement of vessels is concerned, depends on the skills of the surgeon? Please let me know if anyone had similar experience with this type of tumor and what was the outcome. I appreciate any input in advance.