Anyone had liver embolization prior to surgery?
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Thank you Colleen.
I started reading up on Dr. Geshwin based on your results. I hope we can get something close to the same reduction as your husband.
Tom
Thank you Sophie,
I’m glad things went well for you.
Just looking down the road at some options if there are any. My dad has been on Gemzar and Xeloda and his CA19 number went down from 1443 to 883 in about 2 weeks. Not sure what to think about that. During all this he had an infection due to a plugged stent. He has stopped the chemo and is on antibiotics now until the fever goes away. I hope he gets that cleared up so he can get back on track with the Chemo before his cancer no longer responds to it.
We have a meeting with John Hopkins next week to see Dr. Geshwin. Has anyone had any experience with him? I think they are going to offer him something like the TACE program.
My dad is not really a computer person. I would like to find him someone that he could call and talk to about positive treatments and this disease in general over the phone.
The reason I wanted to bring this up is this:
If you ask a doctor, son, daughter or a fellow cancer patient their opinion, you may get 3 different answers made for different reasons. I.E. clincal data, emotion, experience, all of which are important and are needed to answer your questions.
If there is anyone out there that would be interested in this, please email me your phone number and a good time to call and I will pass your information on to my dad.
I would like our website to offer a phone support for the non-computer people. There is something to be said for that one-on-one conversation.Thank you
Tom
Hello Tom,
If we’re on the same page, it’s called portal vein embolization, and I just had it done exactly one week ago tomorrow. They use some type of foam to cut off the blood supply to part of the liver which atrophies it and then forces the other part of the liver to regenerate. I will be starting chemo next week. Hopefully my liver will regenerate enough to allow them to resection it in 2 or 3 months. This was done at City of Hope Hospital in Duarte, CA. My very heartfelt wishes and prayers to you and your family.
Sophie
Hi Tom, Charlie had chemoembolization before his surgery. They hoped the chemo would kill some more of the tumors and allow them to cut out less of the liver. In Charlie’s case, it didn’t really help or make a difference, but I guess it was worth trying. They ended up taking out about 60% of his liver. Charlie sweated profusely and felt very tired and pretty bad for several weeks after it probably because of the chemo. He was in the hospital a couple of days after the embolization. The resection surgery was done about 6 weeks later. Hope this helps.
Carol
Hi Tom
I have had 2 resections in Edinburgh and did not undergo embolisation. On each occasion it was literally a matter of going to the hospital one day, having surgery the next day and leaving hospital 4 days later. The remaining liver grows to fill the void and I believe it takes about 2-3 months. As I understand it, the chances of liver failure are greater the more liver has been removed but becomes really critical when 80% or more is removed. Other factors have to be taken into account, for example, age and general health.
All the best
RonI guess they plug part of your liver prior to surgery forcing it to grow. Has anyone had this done and what was involved? How risky was it compared to the actual surgery?
From what I read, it will grow up to 15 to 20% on one side which will decrease the chance of liver failure after surgery, I hope.Thanks
Tom
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