A local doctor has a new way to detect and help prevent pancreatic cancer.  It’s an inexpensive screening program he says could save lives.

Dr. Gordon Hixson has been in radiology for more than 40 years.  He now hopes to use his experience in imaging to identify pancreatic cancer early.

Dr. Hixson spends most of his time looking carefully at ultrasounds.  He’s looking for any signs of cancer in the pancreas.  He says this is a new and unique way to detect it.  “You can simply use inexpensive ultrasound of the abdoman to target just the pancreas itself.”

Dr. Hixson says that specific view can show a block of the pancreatic duct that could be cancer.  It’s a terrifying image that Dr. Hixson noticed on his own ultrasound three years ago.  “It was much smaller than the usual pancreatic cancer and I didn’t have any symptoms.”

Just the year before he had travelled to Italy with his wife and was in perfect health.  but during a routine screening as a precaution, he spotted a small speck.  that turned out to be cancer, growing his pancreatic duct to 6 times the average.  He says if it weren’t for that early image, he would not have recovered.  “I would not be here now, had this not have happened, I think it may have been divine intervention.”

Dr. Hixson says that intervention involves passing on his technique to others, in a new low cost, early screening program for pancreatic cancer.  A disease that doesn’t have detection guidelines, and detection isn’t always covered by healthcare.  “We should be able to cut the death rate from 95 percent to 50 percent, I really do believe that.”

He hopes to use his own story of success to steer others toward a life saving screening.  “I like to help other people so this is one way to help a lot of people.”

The screenings just became available this year at the Women’s Diagnostic Center.  They’re being offered for both men and women over the age of about 60.

They want my friend to have a colonscopy done because it runs in her family, but wouldn't she notice something was wrong bowel habits or pain or blood showing when she goes to the bath room.

Hi there

It's sound like the doctors are just taking precautions with your friend, as you do say it runs in her family.

If she is not showing any signs of colorectal cancer, then it is unlikely that she has it. Im sure the colonoscopy is just being done an appropriate precaution to rule out any possibilities that they have come up with.

In the unlikely case of it turning out to be colorectal cancer, it has most likely been caught in its early stages, the reason why I state this is because you mentioned that she has no symptoms. So this would mean that treatment would be very successful for her.

But I a feeling that all will turn out to be normal.

Best Wish's

The majority of cancers have no unique symptoms until they are advanced . .that is one reason cancer is so deadly . . and the reason is simple. Cancer is your own cells, your own DNA that for an unknown reason mutates and loses the ability to stop growing. A cancer cell will grow indefinitely unless treatment stops it. Since cancer cells are your own DNA the body does not recognize the danger . . the immune system treats a cancer cell just like it treats a normal cell . . the body will feed and nourish and protect the cancer cell the same way it does any other cell in the body. A tumor can co-exist quite nicely inside the body for an undetermined amount of time just by bending around organs or structures. It isn't until tumors either grow big enough or begin to interfere with normal body functions that they are noticed. The reason for the colonoscopy is because small colon malignancies can reside quite easily and unnoticed inside the colon for quite some time . . it stands to reason that it is far easier to treat a small tumor than it is a larger one that has spread. So the doctor will exam the inside of the colon and remove anything suspicious while it is still small.

In other words, if your friend has the hereditary type of cancer than it may just be too small to be causing any issues at all . . the doctor is just being cautious. It's a relatively easy procedure and your friend should do it for several reasons . . one – to make sure she does not have anything cancerous right now and two – to establish a well baseline so her doctor can compare this colonoscopy to any future colonoscopies she may have – again checking for early signs of cancer.

Sometimes symptoms take months to appear. if it was me personally I would be glad the dr. is actually taking precaution. Colon cancer symptoms are tricky and like I said do not appear right away. if it can be caught early that's awesome and if everything comes back normal then that's just peace of mind. I would recommend your friend get it done, just to be on the safe side. Cancer is taking too many lives now adays, because it's getting caught too late.

Recurrent persistent occult in stool microscopy is most warning sign with anemia in a person with family history must have regular colonoscopy to rule out cancer colon.
Due to family history she is high risk group,need not have any symptoms.

Many colon cancers don't give any symptoms for a long time. by doing colonoscopies in people at significant risk of developing colon cancer the doctors can remove adenomatous polyps before they become cancer (or detect cancers while they are very small and easily curable).

i was bringing my baby to the y and someone brought to the day care there and their child had it. she is not infected with it. just want to know how long i should keep her out as a precaution. this is my first time hearing about that disease.

Two of my children had it when they were babies. it looks like little white blisters in the mouth. The hands and feet get little patches of pealing skin. it is treated with antibiotics.

It's more popular than you think…besides I think it gives the dr a diagnoses when they really don't know what it is…

Symptoms include:
High fever – often up to five days.
Severe fussiness – this is often the worst part of the illness.
Severe mouth pain or sore throat
Copious drooling
Refusal to eat or even drink
Rash – small, red or white spots may, but not always, appear on the hands or feet (thus the name of the illness). A red, lacy rash can also appear anywhere on the body.

My son just had it. He was exposed the same way your child was. He devoloped white sores in his mouth and in his diaper area but no where else. He screamed constantly nothing would console him it lasted 6 days. and one day he woke up and it was gone and he was better. they wouldnt give him any medicine just and antacid and advil (mix 1/2 and 1/2 parts. There no antibiotic dut to the fact its viral. it can take 7 to 14 days for symptoms. best of luck it will be along tiring ride!

My kids have never had it but my friend's son did.He had a mouthfull of Canker sores and I mean a mouthfull. Underneath and on top of his tounge inside cheeks the poor kid could hardly eat because it hurt .He also had a rash on his legs . The Dr gave Mom some antiboitic rinse for his mouth but he rash went away on it's own.

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There are many women all over the world who are diagnosed with the dreaded ovarian cancer back pain which is a symptom of the disease many doctors would mistakenly treat as a normal back pain. however, ovarian cancer back pain is not like a normal back pain because it can eventually lead to cancer. This is a very deceptive disease and many doctors will often miss it since its signs are hard to distinguish from those of a normal back pain. If you’re currently suffering from any form of chronic back pain then you should take extra precaution and be careful of your current situation. never write off the possibility that this could be serious ovarian cancer back pain.

A medical research in the United States have estimated that close to over 45,000 women in the US are diagnosed with this disease each year. the ovarian cancer back pain has been attributed to about 5% of all causes cancer related deaths.

So just what exactly are medical practitioners doing to help spot this disease before it can reach the final stages of cancer? and also why is it that this is something that cannot be diagnosed easily in its current stages?  This silent disease has stumped doctors trying to figure out a way to detect it before it can get out of hand. the problem with ovarian cancer back pain is that all the primary symptoms are not showed by the patients until the very late stages of the disease when cancerous cells have already begun to grow and develop.

However, all hope is not lost and scientist, doctors, and universities all over the world are beginning to find that by following certain patterns in the back pain experiences in patients, they were able to predict the presence of this disease five months prior to it developing cancerous cells in the body. although a five month warning time may not seem like a lot when you’re the one suffering, it is definitely a step in the right direction. many of the symptoms of this disease include frequent back pain, bloating, frequent fatigue, constipation, abdominal pain, and bladder control disorder.

Ovarian cancer back pain is a very serious cause for concern for those who are current suffering from constant daily back pains. This is something that you should see with your doctors and discuss the possibility of cancer that may result from this. although it will be hard to tell, your doctor should be able to at least follow patterns and irregularities to determine whether or not this is a normal case of back pain or something more serious.