u/awesometakespractice

Hi all - father (71) was recently diagnosed after going to the ER with jaundice/liver issues and needing a stent. Imaging and biopsy showed two malignant lesions in the pancreas (one in the head that caused the liver issues, and a larger one in the tail), which we’re told is uncommon. At this point, they have not determined whether these are separate tumors or if one has spread within the pancreas. There are no visible lesions elsewhere on scans, but he is scheduled for another procedure to check for microscopic spread before finalizing a treatment plan. The preliminary plan is aggressive chemo then hopefully surgery if there is no further spread found. We’re obviously devastated, and feel overwhelmingly underinformed, so we are trying to get up to speed quickly. Any experiences, insight, or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

While it is medically fine and your doctor may agree to it, that doesn't mean your insurance company will! My doctor told me I could move up early from 1.5mg to 4mg, and then again from 4mg to 9 mg, doubling up on the remainder of the previous dose for the last week or so. But then when I went to fill my first Rx for 25mg, I found out my insurance company (Aetna) will only cover a certain amount of PILLS in a certain timeframe, so now I'm going to run out of 9mg before they will allow the 25mg to be filled.

So yeah, keep that in mind if you're trying to titrate up faster!