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Well the current side effects from PC (if you survive):

1. They open you up and re-arrange what is left of your digestive system. If you are lucky, you need pancreatic enzymes to digest your food. (Right now those are not covered by insurance and cost about $500 a month.)

2. The chemotherapy that is used will leave your head in a fog and can permanently destroy the nerve endings in your fingers and toes.

3. Consistent solid bowel movements are kind of a memory.

4. Chemotherapy can cause parts of your bowels to become necrotic.

5. IF you survive longer than five years, you will periodically get what are referred to as “Whipple Attacks” where your digestive system will just “dump” for a few days.

6. You have some wonderful scars. My wife’s navel is about five inches off center because of the surgeries.

I would think the side effects from a mRNA shot are probably minimal in comparison.

I had my Whipple June 25, 2024. Adenocarcinoma of the Ampulla of Vater in the presence of high grade dysplasia. My renal artery was nicked during the operation. That triggered months of drains, post-op infections including MRSA pneumonia and an abscess between my stomach and liver. A mere 5 weeks of vancomycin IV and cephalosporin IV push cleared the infections. It went over 4 months, so chemo was never an option.

To your list of unpleasant consequences, I can add the loss of about an hour after each meal sitting on the pot. That's a couple hours lost per day. Sometimes a middle of the night run too.

My pancreas was spared, but follow-up CT shows it beginning to atrophy. Not diabetic yet. No supplemental enzymes either, but I can eat 3,000 calories and just bump my weight up by 0.3 lb. I simply fail to absorb much of what goes down my throat. I have a 10mm x 15mm stent in the middle of my stomach too. My stomach closed fully above the pyloric valve causing vomiting that drove my weight down from 152 to 131. The stent fixed the closure. Food is passing. Just poorly absorbed. So much better than living on a feeding tube for the rest of my life. I do miss being able to efficient live on 1250 calories per day.

Some of my friends with PC are eligible for the latest meds to beat the KRAS sensitive tumor types. Perhaps an extra year on the green side of the lawn. My tumor type is 0.5% of cases. It will never be important enough to fashion a specialized treatment. Last I checked, there was 182 documented cases like mine. 5 year survival is about 32%. That beats 13%. Hoping things improve for your wife.