Has anyone here dealt with a pancreas Nuero Endocrine Tumor(NET)? [View all]
There is so much information out there but it all seems so confusing.
My boyfriend/partner was diagnosed with what they SUSPECT is a NET in the tail of his pancreas.
It came up on a CAT scan he had done for an upcoming hernia operation. This was 6 months ago. The hernia was put un hold for further testing.
After several CTs and MRIs and two endoscopic ultra-sounds with biopsies it still comes up somewhat inconclusive. On the last biopsy, they found "nuero endocrine cells". The first biopsy showed nothing. Either way, the Doc wanted the tumor out and so did the boyfriend. I guess the tumors can, even if benign, cause trouble when they grow.
My understanding is this type of tumor is almost alway benign and, even if malignant, highly treatable if caught early. Steve Jobs had the malignant kind and might be alive today if he had acted quicker (at least that is what I read). The doctor told the boyfriend his tumor was ten times smaller than Jobs' tumor.
The doctors are so nonchalant about this major surgery. They are taking the tail (about 10-15%) of the pancreas, his spleen and his gallbladder. I guess that is SOP for pancreas tail resection. Also fixing the hernia while they have him.
The doc says you don't need your spleen after 25 but I've been reading a splenectomy has life-long immune system implications.
He's having the surgery at a good hospital (where he works, BTW) and the surgeon comes highly rated.
To make matters worse, his step-dad was diagnosed last week with stage 4 pancreas cancer with liver metastasis. When it rains it pours. We are all probably more worried about his mom than anything else. We were there this weekend and it was rough.
= new reply since forum marked as read