Father newly diagnosed

Hi Sarah,
Sorry to hear of your father’s diagnosis.

My wife Lisa was recently diagnosed with CC as well. We also consulted with the team at Mayo and learned that her cancer is currently unresectable — also due to portal vein involvement as well as some other factors.

My understanding from my research and from reading posts on this site is that some patients are initally unresectable and later become surgical candidates due to positive response to chemo and other treatment modalities. Perhaps surgery may be an option in the future?

Like others have stated, we have also learned the value of attaining multiple opinions. It seems that Mayo may be more conservative in terms of surgical options, as I have read about some patients who were told that surgery is not an option at Mayo and subsequently underwent successfull resections at some other centers including Memorial Sloan Kettering and MD Anderson to name a few.

I wish your father the best of luck with the port placement and with chemo treatments.

-Matt

Hi Sarah,

Welcome to the site. Sorry that you had to find us all and I am sorry to hear about your dad. But I am glad that you’ve joined us all here as you are in the best place for support and help, and I know that you will get loads of both from everyone here.

Thanks for sharing your dads experiences with us all. Have you thought about seeking a further opinion or two as to whether surgery would be an option for your dad here? We have had quite a few members who were told that surgery was not an option first off only to be told that it could be possible from another surgeon. I am in the UK so can’t help with personal recommendations as to surgeons etc but I know that the others will be along soon to share their experiences etc with you. Dr Kato springs to mind first off and quite a few members or their loved ones have been seen by him.

http://www.cholangiocarcinoma.org/punbb/search.php?search_id=1146808991

What chemo is your dad due to start on, is it the Gem/Cis combo? There are a ton of posts here on the site about chemo and they can be found in the chemo board we have here. You are so doing the right thing in seeking as much info as possible for your dad as the better informed you are the better equipped you will all be when it comes to making decisions about everything. If you have questions please feel free to ask here and we’ll do what we can to help in answering them.

And please keep coming back here and let us know how everything goes for your dad. We are here for you Sarah. We know what you are going through and we care.

My best wishes to you and your dad,

Gavin