Doug Quesinberry Pancreatic Cancer Survivor

“I was near death’s door,” he said. “I just wouldn’t go through it.”

Doug had follow-up scans and had bloodwork done about three months after stopping chemotherapy and was relieved to find that he showed no evidence of disease. By December of 2019, though, his care team identified a recurrence and started him back on chemotherapy using a combination of Gemzar and Abraxane. He tolerated this drug combination far better than his original combination of Gemcitabene and Capecitabine, completing six months of chemotherapy treatment before beginning radiation.

He then had five weeks of traditional radiation and five days of Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT), which is a highly precise type of radiation therapy that delivers high doses of radiation over a brief period. In Doug’s case, he received the equivalent of about five weeks of radiation over the course of five days.

By December of 2020, Doug’s scans were all clear, and he has not had any treatment since. He does, however, attend regular checkups, first seeing his doctor every four months, and then every six months. If his next scan, scheduled for August 2025, looks clear, he’ll be able to space future appointments out to once a year.

While he awaits his next scan, Doug lives a relatively normal life. He says he eats about 95% of what he ate prior to his Whipple surgery, but he has had to make some minor adjustments, cutting down on bacon and essentially cutting out spicy foods.

He’s also had some time to reflect on his support system in the time since his treatment and surgery, noting that his family, church and faith helped him every step of the way. His wife, Donna, remained by his side as much as possible during treatments and would often wait in her car in the parking lot when necessary due to COVID-19-related limitations.

Doug also credits his doctors and nurses at the Emily Couric Cancer Center for providing quality care and keeping his spirits high throughout treatment, noting that he “can’t say enough” about their kindness, knowledge and professionalism.

“They told me, ‘We can kill cancer – not killing you is the trick. Our job is to keep you functioning at the highest level possible,’ and that’s what they accomplished with me.”

Doug also acknowledges the role his faith played in helping him handle cancer-related hardships and notes that while his journey was undeniably difficult, it had a silver lining.

“It made me a better person. I wasn’t a bad person, but it made me better and deepened my faith,” he said. “I was always a man of strong faith, but it showed me how great God was and how he’s active in the affairs of his children.”

Now, as an eight-year pancreatic cancer survivor, Doug also has some insight for others facing a similar diagnosis.

“Accept that you have to have a great deal of acceptance,” he said, nothing that this rings true when it comes to figuring out what you can and cannot eat after a Whipple procedure.

“You can try working with a dietician, but your diet is something you have to learn for yourself,” Doug said. “Unless a dietician has had it [the Whipple], it’s not something they can truly understand. There’s no ‘typical’ case; you just have to learn for yourself – and accept certain limitations.”

Doug also stresses the importance of keeping busy, whether that means exercising (he currently walks about four miles most days), playing an instrument or otherwise finding something that brings joy during a cancer journey. He also highlights the critical nature of receiving treatment from physicians and institutions that specialize in pancreatic cancer, rather than doing so under the care of general oncologists.

“Find a good doctor you trust at a national cancer institute or hospital,” he said. “You don’t go around pancreatic cancer – you have to go through it. It takes medical care, family and faith to get to the other side of this, and there IS another side.”

Finally, Doug acknowledges that navigating a pancreatic cancer diagnosis and the treatment that follows requires an immense level of resilience.

“You’ll never be the same as you were prior to diagnosis,” he said. “You have to come to terms with things and figure out your ‘new normal,’ and that’s different for everyone.”

Doug has shown no evidence of disease since his recurrence in December 2019.