It’s September 2021 when the latest James Bond film, No Time to Die, premieres. On that day, Pex Langenberg (64) is diagnosed with a tumor in the tail of his pancreas. He is currently living in Berlin, where he works at the embassy. The diagnosis changes his life; he moves back to his beloved Leiden. But he’s still there, and ‘no time to die’ has become his motto: “I keep busy with all sorts of activities; I don’t have time to think about a sudden end.”
The diagnosis follows a year of back-and-forth visits to the GP for back pain. After Pex also developed intestinal problems, he was able to have a CT scan performed by a specialist. “To be honest, I only just remembered I had a pancreas, but I didn’t know what it did or where it was located. The GP had been very nonchalant, but now it suddenly became incredibly serious.” A laparoscopy soon followed, which revealed metastases in the abdominal wall and liver. “Surgery wasn’t an option at that point. The surgeon clearly indicated I only had six to nine months to live.”
Hiccups for hours
The decision to treat or not was an easy one for Pex. “It’s not necessarily about the extra months or years, but about the quality of life.” He started with the usual therapy, Folfirinox, every two weeks, for three days in a row. “I’m very down-to-earth; science invented this chemotherapy. If it’s better, I’ll just do it.” Unfortunately, he experienced all the side effects: nausea, intestinal discomfort, extreme fatigue, itching and severe hiccups. “Normally, people have hiccups for twenty minutes, but for me, it can last two or three hours. That’s incredibly tiring and, for example, impossible right before bedtime.”
Something fun every third week
All in all, the current therapy was too intense. So the doctors decided to reduce the dose to once every three weeks and to 75 percent. “It still wasn’t fun, but it made a huge difference. Every third week, I could do fun things.”
Meanwhile, Pex had moved back to Leiden, and the therapy carried over seamlessly to the Netherlands. After eleven rounds of chemotherapy, he was completely done. His tumor marker had dropped nicely, and thankfully, he didn’t need the twelfth treatment.
He was able to recover for nine months, until doctors discovered metastases in his spleen during a CT scan. “Well, the Folfirinox had worked well, so I already knew what was coming. I wasn’t looking forward to it, but giving up was definitely not an option. I wanted to keep going.” He just finished his tenth treatment, and a few weeks ago, he was approved for surgery. “The doctor came to see me to discuss the pros and cons of surgery. That conversation focused a lot on the downsides, the complications. But I’m in good shape, I’ve exercised a lot, and I haven’t lost a single pound. I can handle it.”
Keeping busy
During the nine months of rest, but also during his chemotherapy, Pex remained active: he met up with friends, traveled, played sports, and frequently visited the theater. He also joined the board of the patient organization Living With Hope. “Watching Netflix at home is fun, but I didn’t see that as a permanent option. I wanted to do something for other patients. Now I’m involved in organizing peer support meetings and the helpline. And I’m advocating for a dictionary that explains the complex terms associated with cancer in simple Dutch. This pancreatic cancer dictionary is now available.”
He misses his work, the eight-hour workday. Fortunately, this board position allows him to truly contribute to society. “And it’s a kind of therapy for me too. During the Pancreatic Cancer Support Group Day in December 2023, we were in a room with eighty patients (‘support group’). I look around and think: we’re doing a good job organizing this.”
Pex is scheduled for surgery in the second week of January, so it’s a tense time. “It’s a terrible disease. It’s still the case that only five percent of patients survive five years after diagnosis. That also applies to people who have had surgery. But I was expecting nine months, but I’m now at month 27.”
Pex Langenberg died on June 28, 2025, from metastatic pancreatic cancer.
This story is based on the post on Deltaplan Alvleesklierkanker.