Discussions

Today I went for a full physical for the first time in about 10 years. (Slacking on my part, yes I know...but for the most part I'm pretty healthy.)  
 
I have however, suffered from occasional indigestion / heartburn, perhaps 6 times total in the past year, severe enough in pain that it kept me up all night. Prior to this year, I had a cast-iron stomach and could probably digest a plate of rocks. When I mentioned this to my Doctor, and after answering his questions about when these bouts occurred, he seemed to insinuate that it could be gall bladder troubles.  
 
My sister has had her gall bladder removed, and my mother as well. And this got me to thinking about my mother, who passed away from cancer when I was very young, in 1977. My sister believes it was pancreatic cancer, my father (who now unfortunately has Alzheimers and cannot remember much anymore) once told me it was cancer in her 'womanly parts' as he delicately referred to them.  
 
And herein lies my dilemma. The pancreas / liver / gallbladder are closely related, if I'm correct, and I'm thinking perhaps there's some special screening or *something* I could do, if my family is prone to this type of thing. However, I cannot seem to confirm what type of cancer my mother passed away from. The Brandon Health Authority only keeps records for 15 to 18 years, so that was a dead end. The 70's were before computer data was stored. My mother's relatives who were close enough to know what type of cancer she had, have since passed away too.  
 
As far as I know, (coming from the memories of a then-9-year-old child) she stayed in Brandon for her treatment, so I believe if any records were kept at all, they would be somewhere in this city.  
 
Is there somewhere I should be looking, or am I basically out of luck?