For many people, a pancreatic cancer diagnosis is a worst-case scenario. Texas Health patient Patrick “Rock” Stone is one of the lucky ones. When doctors diagnosed him with this highly aggressive cancer, it was discovered before spreading to other organs.

“Mr. Stone was unique and fell into that 20 percent of patients who had disease which could be removed. He was an ideal candidate for surgery,” said Kimberly Washington, M.D., FACS, a hepato-pancreato-biliary surgeon and member of Texas Health Surgical Specialists, a part of Texas Health Physicians Group*.

Stone underwent distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy surgery to remove the body and tail of his pancreas along with his spleen and surrounding lymph nodes at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth.

Stone is among about 30 patients at Texas Health Fort Worth who have had a pancreatectomy in the last year.

Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive disease that often spreads before it is detected. That’s why Texas Health brings together physicians and surgeons in the diagnosis and treatment of all stages of pancreatic cancer.

A relatively rare cancer

Because the pancreas is located deep inside the abdomen, cancer symptoms are often delayed, Washington said.

Patients who have a family history of pancreatic cancer, those with hereditary pancreatitis, those with breast cancer gene mutations, and those who were diagnosed with diabetes after the age of 50 are at increased risk.

The American Cancer Society estimates that 66,440 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year, compared with 106,590 new cases of colon cancer and 313,510 of breast cancer.

Pancreatic cancer accounts for about 3 percent of all cancers in the United States and about 7 percent of all cancer deaths, according to the American Cancer Society.

Cancer diagnosis

Stone’s cancer was found early in part because he stayed active in retirement and sought answers when he was quickly losing weight without trying.

“I had nothing wrong, other than the fact that I discovered I lost 55 pounds,” he said. “I went from a 38-inch waist to 36, 34 and 32. I said, ‘That’s enough.’”

Stone checked with his primary doctor. The first tests indicated he had diabetes. More tests were ordered, along with an MRI and two CT scans, he said. A biopsy revealed cancer.

“I didn’t think anything like this could happen to me,” Stone said.

Letters of praise

Stone praised the surgery and medical care in removing his cancer, which was the most common kind of pancreatic cancer.

“The surgery was a major success, all the cancer was removed, and I am recovering nicely at home,” he wrote in a letter thanking the Texas Health Fort Worth care team.

Of the intensive care unit staff that cared for him, Stone wrote: “If they aren’t the best ICU individuals the Lord has ever made, then the Lord has yet to make them!”

He added:

“The bottom line is that they saved my life. That’s how you measure leadership – in terms of results. I can’t find anybody who beats them. I love them all.”

*Physicians employed by Texas Health Physicians Group practice independently and are not employees or agents of Texas Health Resources hospitals.