The Jargon-less Guide to Pancreatic Cancer

We all have our jargons. For us nurses, it's a combination of a mountain of medical terminologies (and, if you're like me and some of my friends, advocacy language). The problems with jargons is that (1) it is usually not understood outside the field it is used in and (2) some idiots think it makes them smarter to use it in regular conversations. 

As an occasional communications teacher, I absolutely abhor people using jargons outside groups that can understand them. For instance, who seriously uses "herewith" and "hereafter" in their Facebook status if his or her Facebook is filled with non-law persons? Ano 'to, pa-cute lang? Useful as it may seem in law jargon and in ye olde prose and poetry, these are archaic terms in conversational English. I'd very much like to kick the habit of using highfalutin words for the sake of impressing our fellow men and women. After all, what are words for if not understood? This is especially true when trying to convey significant information to a group of people with varied backgrounds.

Common expression when people spew jargons just to sound smart

Which brings me to my point: as a health care professional who should be in the forefront of patient education, we nurses must let go of ye language of the clinical area and bring out our talents and getting info out there in creative and UNDERSTANDABLE ways. 

Let's start of with pancreatic cancer.

The pancreas is part of the body responsible for several functions:

1. In contains exocrine glands that produces enzymes which digest fat, proteins, and carbohydrates. To be adequately nourished, the pancreas should be in tip-top shape.

2. It contains endocrine cells which release insulin to the blood stream, thus lowering blood sugar level and allowing the body to use the energy that food gives.

Cancer is a condition in which the cells of the organ multiply. Normally, this is all fine and dandy, but there's one tiny problem: cancer cells are pretty much like vampires (the non-Twilight ones). They are abnormal, very difficult to kill, and they suck the nutrients from normal functioning cells. Which is why you basically get lumps or tumors that have no biological benefits. What's scary about  cancer is that it spreads (the fancy word for this is metastasize) and invades the healthy tissues of the body.

For those with pancreatic cancer,  several symptoms can be observed:

1. Pain in the upper left abdomen

2. Yellowish skin and tea-colored urine. The fancy term for this is jaundice, which is also observable in persons with hepatitis.

Left: Normal skin color (Caucasian). Right: Yellowish skin

3. Lose of appetite, nausea, and vomiting

4. Weight loss and weakness

5. Ash-colored stool and excess fat in the stool

Although the true cause of cancer has yet to be found, there are several ways of reducing the factors that can make you susceptible to it. Experts suggest the following: Since smoking has been thought to be a main factor in 20-30% of pancreatic cancer, quitting the cigs may help lessen the risk factor to the cancer. Also, we can try keeping a healthy weight, exercise, and eating more rabbit food instead of going complete carnivore.

Pancreatic cancer is detectable in so many ways. A patient can undergo ultrasound, CT scan,  MRI, and PET scan. Essentially, all of these would allow the doctor to visualize the pancreas and determine the existence of the tumor. But a tumor may just be a harmless tumor. We call this a benign growth. In order to determine if the tumor is something more nefarious, a patient shall have to undergo a biopsy. In this procedure, a sample tissue from the pancreas shall be taken and studied under a microscope.


Once diagnosed, pancreatic cancer can be managed in several ways.The patient may undergo surgery for the partial or complete removal of the pancreas. He or she may be made to undergo chemotherapy, wherein several drugs will be prescribed and administered in the hopes of killing the cancer cells. The patient may also be treated using radiation.

Pancreatic cancer is curable, but the likelihood of a good prognosis is high only if the cancer is diagnosed early. This is why vigilance about what your body is telling you is very important.

You're probably wondering why I started the year by posting about pancreatic cancer. Why not something closer to home, like a heart problem (which has held my fascination ever since Elizabeth Gregori discussed it with ease and expertise), or diabetes (which half of my clan has, including my mother), or asthma (which I have), or HIV/AIDS (which is an infection worthy of admiration and an infection which has been one of the centers of my life as an SRHR advocate), or stroke (which has recently affected one of my friends). Why not renal failure, which took the life of my great aunt on the 29th of December. I will most probably write about those as well, but you see, I'm running against time here.

One of my friends is doing a donation drive for his aunt, who has pancreatic cancer. It's not even a donation drive, really. My friend's name is Jeth Gaston, and he has this awesome (and rather sexy) talent of designing shirts. He's selling some of these babies to help raise funds for his aunt's treatment. He's selling the shirt for PHP250.00. I can promise you that the quality is up there, ladies and gentlemen. This is no cheap statement shirt, but it is by all means the perfect one if you have a loved one who is fighting the disease, either as the one with cancer or a significant other.

The word play is cool as it is true: I Can Fight Cancer, in the color of pancreatic cancer awareness. 

What Jeth wrote in this shirt is right: Cancer can be fought.

We just have to do so together.


If you want your own FIGHT CANCER shirt, check out Jeth Gaston's Facebook profile here.

Let's start 2014 right, everyone.