Pancreatic Cancer Patients' Stories

An Early Diagnosis with a Happy Ending

“I am one of the most fortunate, blessed people in the entire world,” said Mrs. Ann Murphy of Fallbrook, California.  “I’m a survivor!”

Ann and her husband had just returned from vacation when she woke up one morning, looked in the mirror and saw a very yellow face. “Even the lines underneath my tongue were yellow,” she said.

Thinking the jaundice was probably due to hepatitis, Ann’s family doctor immediately put her in the hospital.  A consulting gastroenterologist was called to perform an endoscopic procedure, to see what was happening in her abdominal area.  He determined that her bile duct was obstructed, causing the jaundice.  As soon as he opened the obstruction, the bile began to flow and her yellow faded to normal skin tones.  However, that wasn’t the end of the story.  Her doctor also discovered a very small tumor on the head of her pancreas.

“I had no symptoms, other than the jaundice,” Ann said. “Because of the early diagnosis, I was able to have surgery by Dr. Bouvet at UCSD within two weeks.”

Following her successful surgery, called a Whipple procedure, Ann underwent chemotherapy with 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU).  It wasn’t an easy course, however. Ann became quite dehydrated and again was admitted to the hospital.  Fortunately, a new chemotherapeutic agent, Gemcitabine, was made available and she tolerated it quite well over the next year.  Shortly thereafter, her CT scans were negative for cancer, and she’s remained cancer-free ever since.  So that she could be monitored by an oncologist closer to her Fallbrook home, Dr. Bouvet referred her to Dr. Joel Lamon, who she sees every couple of months.

“The early diagnosis, friends and family, good care, and God’s grace pulled me through,” she said. 

Kuwait Patient Survives 24 Years

In 1983, Dr. Abudah Al-Rifaie, director of the Kuwait Institute of Medical Specialties, came to UCSD’s Dr. A.R. Moossa for treatment of his Stage IIB pancreatic cancer.  The tumor had already spread to the patient’s lymph nodes.

“We performed a total pancreatectomy, taking out the entire pancreas,” Dr. Moossa said.  “Following that, he had radiotherapy and chemotherapy.”

For 24 years, Dr. Rifaie was cancer free, with no further evidence of the disease.  According to Dr. Moossa, who keeps in touch with Dr. Rifaie’s family members, the Kuwaiti resident died in early 2007 of an illness unrelated to pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic Cancer Program
Moores UCSD Cancer Center
3855 Health Sciences Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093
(858) 822-2124