text: my mom was just diagnosed today with pancreatic cancer.  she is 82 years old.? what do we expect?  my sister found her yellow skin, doubled over in pain and vomiting yesterday morning and they have been testing since.  they told us tonight the results.  they are doing another test now as i type to see how far she is.  she is not a complainer and does not like dr's so she has probaly been in pain for quite a while.  any help with what to expect would be appreciated.  thanks i'm very sorry to hear this, my sympathies go out to you and your family.  my father-in-law recently passed away from this type of cancer.  it runs in my husband's family as his father, grandfather and uncle were also diagnosed.  my husband's father was given 6 months to live by his doctors but he survived for 2 whole years.  he refused any radiation or chemotherapy, as he believed that it would have probably done more harm than good.  he did not want to go out that way, he wanted to be as strong as possible for as long as possible.  he was only 56 when he was diagnosed and 58 when he passed, so since your mother is older she may have different issues to deal with.  but my father-in-law was very active until only a few weeks before his passing.  the only hints that he was ill was the ever-increasing lump in his abdomen (his tumor), it's accompanying pain, and extreme weight-loss.  his pain got slowly worse as time progressed and at the very end he did take pain medications for it as it was quite bad.  the medications made him very confused and at the very end he didn't recognize anyone anymore and couldn't use the bathroom by himself.  he had a very interesting outlook on his sickness.  when he was diagnosed initially, he decided to spend his last days doing what he loved most - surfing.  he moved to costa rica for 8 months and when he didn't die, he decided to come home!  the only remedy he took the entire time - aside from the pain meds at the end - was his own urine!  yes, it sounds crazy, but there is apparently some sort of urine-drinking therapy program he learned about and decided to try.  it sounded awful, but we couldn't argue with it, as it seemed to be doing something!  and he lived a year and a half longer than expected!  my husband's uncle who was also diagnosed 6 months after his father opted for chemo and radiation.  they think they caught his early because the tumor grew on a vital duct and gave him very bad jaundice very early on, so he noticed his symptoms right away.  he is recovering now and only experienced pain after his treatments started.  most of his pain came from his surgeries and from his treatment making him so tired!  he is in his 40s.  grandfather was in his mid 80s and passed soon after being diagnosed.  pancreatic cancer is very aggressive and took him quickly.  the only solace we took was in that he had lived a full, long, good life.  he wasn't in much pain because he was heavily medicated which also made him very confused.  he also lost a lot of weight.  as far as what you should expect ... it's different for everyone.  she is older which vastly decreases her chance of survival.  no matter what, it will cause her pain because of the tumor pressing on vital organs, and if she is on pain medication she will probably be very "out of it".  the one thing i want to say is that, if she is going to pass ... if you have anything you need to say to your mother, please tell her!  it's morbid but it's such a truth.  my husband couldn't find the words to express what he needed to say to his father, even after 2 years of preparation, and it hurt him so deeply.  don't wait until it's too late.  say anything you need to now while she is still aware and capable of communicating coherently.  god bless you and yours, i wish you the best.