I'm sorry to hear, but at least he's not in any more pain. May he rest in peace.

Oh my wolfie_girl, my condolences.

I know you can search this in the net or read in some books but I thought I’ll try to explain in my own words. Yup, almost all of us have a chance of developing cancer, in one way or another because all of us are made up of cells. I quote from a book, “The only certain way of avoiding cancer is not to be born; to live is to incur the risk.” Cancer cells start from one previously normal cell that has been damaged so that it divides way faster than a normal cell even when the previous trigger is not there anymore. And this cell eventually gives rise to a lot of “clones” of itself which also can spread to other parts of the body later on. They do not contaminate the other cells but they do compete for nourishment (that is why unexplained weight loss is one of the red flags in cancer). The insult is usually environmental although some may be spontaneous. Genetics do play a role because they may make you more predisposed to later on being diagnosed of cancer. So if the cells of a person born without the responsible genetic mutation need “two hits” before becoming cancerous, the cells of a person born with the mutation needs only “one hit.” Also, one inherited gene mutation does not equate to one certain kind of cancer because it actually can cause different kinds of cancer to different individuals. That is the reason why your relatives have cancer in totally different places.

Pancreatic cancer really is a sneaky and deadly one. It is primarily a disease of the elderly and more common in some races. Almost all people diagnosed of having one have little chance of surviving because this is one type of cancer that remains silent, making it difficult to diagnose. The only time that pain is felt and other symptoms begin to appear is when the cancer spreads to other parts of the body (this type of cancer directly invades surrounding organs and often grows along nerves, which in your grandfather’s case may have been those that control speech and swallowing) and becomes a significant size. However, by the time pain appears, the cancer is almost always incurable. His seems to be hereditary indeed but having the genes does not always guarantee your fate. The strongest environmental influence is cigarette smoking. Having chronic pancreatitis and diabetes are also associated with an increased risk.

@jane: May he rest in peace. And thank you for your time, jane, I have not seen you around lately. Seeing you stop at my thread makes me feel better

Thank you for explaining this thoroughly for me (and for anyone else that reads). I can say that I understand cancer better now.
And yes, I've been told as well that the main reason for which the diagnosis was released so late (meaning about five days before his death) was that it was pancreatic cancer.
And mainly because for about ten years he had been accusing stomach problems, drifting from one problem to another, but never being able to eat without having these problems afterwards. And the stomach symptoms threw us off the track, not really thinking that we might also check on his whole digestive system, the pancreas being all hidden behind everything. And to be honest, it wasn't much of my concern at that time, assuming that I was around 7-8 years old and cared of pretty much nothing.

It is such a horrible disease, so silent and sneaky. I was also told that if you are to detect the cancer while in incipient stages, if it's touched, it can spread dozens times faster. And that is why doctors rarely succeed in removing the whole area the cancer spread to. I also heard that people who find out about cancer and even defeat it, live less than people who don't. Many people say you are better off without knowing you have cancer, but I don't know which is worse: to live longer and die painfully or struggle for months or maybe years fighting with a disease that you might not defeat.

It is also horrible that it can cause a lot of other diseases, striking in the weakest points one has and spreading to everything. My grandfather died because his heart and lungs weren't working properly anymore. I don't know for sure, but this cancer might have been responsible for that too. A few days before dying, he also developed mechanical yellow jaundice, which I will proceed to call icterus because yellow jaundice sounds like such a dumb pleonasm right now. This icterus surely developed because of the cancer, as well, since, as far as I know, it affects the liver. It was horrible to see my grandfather so yellow, he looked like beeswax when they brought him, I swear to God.

Aside the medical implications, I am somehow at peace right now, because all the month of may, while he had been suffering and transported from one hospital to another, it rained. It rained and rained and started raining harder as he was getting worse. I know for sure that the day he was brought to our house, it was raining cats and dogs. But just when the car arrived, the rain suddenly stopped, he was brought inside and then it started raining again.

And today, being the day of his funeral, there was not only one single cloud in the sky, and it is said that there won't be any for a very long time. You might think I am going all paranormal and crazy, but I don't think it's such a coincidence that all the time he was in pain it rained, and when we brought him near a place he loved, it suddenly turned sunny. I believe that this means he is not in pain anymore and he is at peace.
I am done, I don't want people to think I am losing it.

I'm so sorry for being so late. I offer my condolences, wolfie_girl.
I lost my grandfather in this month 4 years ago. He had prostate cancer. Though he always used to smoke so its not surprising. He was still a good man though. I know exactly how you feel. It will hurt, believe me. It will hurt a LOT. But as my deceased grandfather always told me, 'Time will heal all wounds, slowly but surely. Maybe not completely but, to a certain degree.'

I am so very sorry.

@phoenixalia: No worries I appreciate that you are here. May he rest in peace. Everything seems empty and quiet now, but we will have to get used to it after a while.

And I am sorry for your loss, now I can say I fully understand how it feels.
Everything will be okay, though

yes, it will. you will get used to it soon. and also(this is my belief, just sharing) I know that one day we will all meet in heaven.

wolfie_girl, my condolences.
Its hard to lose someone close. My grandfather died of Liver disease when i was young. One thing you will always have is the memories and those memories will make you happy when you think of them in time.