Patient Stories: Treatment for pancreatic cancer close to home

In late 2020, Robert Justice noticed problems with unexplained weight loss, yellowed skin (jaundice) and itching. These symptoms of liver dysfunction weren’t a sign that he was suffering from a liver disease at all. Instead, Justice was diagnosed with a tumor in his pancreas.

Justice and his family met with Jesse Clanton, MD, a surgical oncologist at Prisma Health. Luckily, Justice’s pancreatic cancer was caught early, but the procedure and treatment were complex and a very serious matter for him and his family. During the Whipple procedure, a major surgery, parts of his pancreas, stomach, small intestine, bile duct and gallbladder were removed. After recovering from this significant surgery, he moved on to chemotherapy treatment, followed by radiation treatment and chemotherapy pills.

Robert Justice is currently cancer free and enjoying quality time with his loved ones.

Thankfully, with Prisma Health Surgical Oncology available at Prisma Health Richland in the Midlands of SC, Justice and other patients within Columbia and the surrounding area can receive the complex cancer care they need while staying comfortably close to home.