Dad starts chemo next week
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Hi Kay!
Wanted to offer my two cents. More recent medical studies (which are very rare, unfortunately) tend to come down on the side that chemo is, at best, not all that effective in CC, whether it is used as ad adjunct to surgery or, as in my case, given to people who were unresectable. My own decision was to decline — I felt it would do more harm than good to my body. Obviously this is a highly personal decision for patient and loved ones to make — you also want to set parameters on how much you are willing to take should the side effects be awful (which they are not in most cases.)
I hope that hopes — take good care.
Courage,
IreneHi Kay!
Cholangiocarcinoma has been so rare and so little studied that many doctors still don’t know what it is or what to do for it. Recently, there was a post about a trial of the combination of Gemzar and Cisplatin. In combination, they get much better results than either alone, so finally, the medical profession has a “best practice” or protocal to start with. I had this combination after CC was diagnosed in May of 2007 and the hope was that it would shrink the tumor enough that the remainder could be surgically removed. When they did the follow-up scan to check on progress, the chemicals had worked so well that surgery was not planned; the tumor was not visible on the scan. Of course, cancer returned. I’ve had a second series of the same chemo cocktail and I’ve also had radiation, so now I am again in remission and working.Be prepared to ask lots of questions, both here and in the doctor’s offices. Be as involved as you want to be in deciding on plans for your treatment. Know that in maintaining a good, fighting attitude and active lifestyle (as possible), you are fighting the cancer on a level that cannot be measured.
Keep faith in the God who loves you! He truly works miracles.
You and your Dad are in my prayers.
LouiseHi Kay;
I agree with Lainy in that you never know with cc what will happen. In my case the Drs said that chemo probablly wouldn’t help but maybe would slow down growth. They were wrong and the tumors shrunk and i ended up having a resection. I was told not to do chemo after the resection. A year later it is back. So as Lainy said, you need to keep a vigil eye. Glad to hear that your Dad has a good prognosis but keep your eyes open. Take care and God Bless,
JamieHi Kay and join the confusion club. The only thing we know for sure about CC is that we never know what it’s going to do. To be for warned is to be for armed so yes, the possibility of it’s return is there. That is why all of us caretakers keep such a vigil watch. My husband had it in the bile duct 4 years ago and it returned April of 08 but they zapped it through radiation then cyber knife (it returned where his duodenum used to be). He is going to be 77 and has been just fine but his regime is to have LAB work every month and to see the Oncologist every 2 months. Whether to use chemo or not depends on where the cancer is. It will not work on the CC type my husband has as his was all contained in the bile duct valve. We had verification of 5 doctors on that issue. As you go along here you would do well to read some of the Boards past posts because the more you know about CC the more you will understand what to expect. It’s that old situation of knowing more than you want to. Good luck on the chemo and please keep us posted. Perhaps your dad will be one of the lucky ones…got to have the hope to make it so.
Hi all,
dad starts chemo next week. the doctors have said they have a pretty good chance of getting it all. it is in the lymph node in the portal which they say is not in the liver.. they said the chemo should zap up an potential cancer cells that may be around but not visable on the pet scan. My question is why do people say that chemo and rad doesnt work on this cancer but his doctors are saying they have a chance of getting rid of it. Is it because it is not in the liver but lymph node??? also, if they get rid of it does it have a chance of returning again????? so confused.
xo
kay
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