Father In Law Diagnosed with CC
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My father-in-law passed away on 19th Jun 2011. He was so brave and strong willed till the end. Never once did he complain about anything – he said that if it was his time to go then so be it. He was happy and thankful for the time he had and the life he had led. My his soul rest in peace.
My father-in-law is being treated in New Delhi, India. At present he just completed his first cycle of chemotherapy (Gemcitabin/Cisplatin) with 3 more to go. We have no idea if its going to work.
Dr Canady that you for your reply – can XRT be combined with Chemotherapy? Also, what about the other treatment options out there – Sir Spheres, Photo Dynamic Therapy, Cyberknife etc. I am hoping if we can somehow get his tumor to shrink so that he becomes a candidate for surgery, would be our best bet.
His doctor has only suggested chemotherapy at present and given him an year to live.
Hello Nehak
I do not know where you located but you should look into XRT with chemotherapy to downstage the tumor (shrink) and possibly become a surgical candidate.
Dr CanadyHi Nehak,
Welcome to the site. I am sorry to hear about your father in law’s diagnosis and why you had to find us all, but I am glad that you have joined us here. As in coming here, you will get a ton of support and help from us all. None of us here are doctors, but we will all help if we can. And if you have any questions at all then please feel free to ask them and again, we will all help if we can.
I know what you mean when you say that this is so hard to come to terms with. I felt like that with my dad when he got his diagnosis of inoperable CC. It is tough to hear the doctors talk like that about our loved ones. I will say to you to keep coming back here as we know how you feel and we know what you are going through right now.
Have you thought about seeking another medical opinion for your father in law? If not then perhaps this is something that you could look into. How do you think your father in law would feel about that? We have a lot of discussions here surrounding the issues that you mention, and if you use the search function then that will throw up a lot of these discussions and that may be of use to you.
You mention Photodynamic Therapy, and my dad had that combined with having a metal stent inserted. He had that treatment as part of a trial here in the UK but the trial was stopped early, although there are still some clinics here that will do that treatment for CC patients. Did your father in laws doctors mention radiation treatment of any type?
Let us know if we can help in any way and please keep us updated on how your father in law is doing.
Best wishes,
Gavin
Thank you for the encouraging notes. We have decided to concentrate on the chemotherapy for now. Cycle 1 to be completed tomorrow and 3 more cycles to go after that.
Hi Nehak
In my opinion any option is worth exploring. My mum was turned down twice for surgery but we are getting another opinion at the moment from another surgeon. We did start looking into Cyberknife and are still following that up but it has been a bit delayed by mum starting on chemo (gem/cis).
She is doing well on the chemo and that is encouraging and it looks like she has had no growth since her previous scan in July. So at the moment we are concentrating on that.
I have got her taking a whole box full of vitamins, minerals and supplements (see post by Andy) and I think they are definitely helping.
If your father in law has no jaundice, is in not too much pain and is generally healthy than those are all positives and you can concentrate on those.
Come back often and keep us updated. There is so much information and support on here, it’s great.
best wishes
JemimaDear Nehaak – Whether a year or 10, make the most of whatever days you have with your loved one. One good days, celebrate and dothe things he wants to do. One the rough days, hold his hand and tell him of your love. Thanks him for whatever he has done for you in your life. These are all precious days. Blessings, Susan
Hello
First of all thank you for such a wonderful site and the wealth of information provided. After 2 mos of suffering from apptetite loss and weight loss, my father-in-law was diagnosed with Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma (Stage IV) with metastasis to the Liver (right and left lobes approx 7 cm in size) and nearby lymph nodes. We are not even sure if its a definite diagnosis as it was arrived at after process of elimination (Liver Biopsy classified as poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma of unknown primary, followed by clear Lung scan, colonoscopy, GI Scan, various marker tests etc)Doctors have ruled out surgery as an option – he started chemotherapy last week (Gemcitabin/Cisplatin).
At this point doctors havent given us much hope – saying this is just a palliative treatment and that he has only a year to live. I dont want to accept that outcome – I’ve heard about Cyberknfe, Photodynamic therapy etc – does anyone have an idea about its efficacy? Is it worth trying – how do I know if these treatements would be applicable in his case? Are there any other options worth exlporing?
My father-in-law doesnt have jaundice (normal billirubin levels), mild anemia but very much elevated CEA levels (700+) – he is a non smoker, occasional drinker with a very healthy lifestyle and no other known complications (no diabetes, heart or blood pressure problems).
It has just been very very hard to come to terms with all of this and I want to fight it to the best of my ability.
Thank you all again for all the help and support offered on this website.
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