Just found out.
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I am so very sorry, Dakota. I hope he heals quickly from the surgery so you can begin other options. Be strong!
Dakota….so sorry to hear this. But, other options now come into play.
Hugs are heading your way,
MarionGreat Luck, Dakota, we are all in the room with you and I pray for God to come through the Surgeon’s hands. If you are able, please let us know the out come.
Happy Thanksgiving to you Dakota and family –
Sound like a very familiar story to us. My husband’s tumor was in basically the same place and we went in to surgery not knowing if they would get it all. They did the laproscopic procedure first then went into do the hepatectomy of the left side of his liver and the caudal lobectomy. The the Rou-en-Y procedure after taking out all the bile ducts, gall bladder, etc. His 6-8 hour surgery turned into 14 hours but there were complications related to scarring and adhesions from a previous surgery. We went into it knowing that they might not be able to get it all and the risk of not getting it all meant that it might spread quickly and aggressively. We also knew that our only chance at a “Cure” was surgery.
We were not told it would eliminate radiation in the area. In fact we are now in the process of considering radiation as a treatment just to make sure they got all the cancer. We are 8 out of 12 doses down on Gem/Ox chemo.
I guess our thoughts for surgery were too look as taking the chance the surgery might work versus knowing what the outcome would be eventually if we did nothing.
It was rough. They scheduled the surgery for us before we had even made up our minds. It wasn’t until we came back a week later for pre-op that we were sure we were making the right decision.
I would just make sure that whatever surgeon you chose to do that had lots of experience in these types of surgeries.
Good Luck and good holidays.KrisV
When the tumor in my liver (I try to NEVER say “mine”) was initially found it was irregularly shaped with a thin tail leading to the bile duct. By the time I began treatment (2 months) it was pretty round and well defined, but still had the thin trail to the bile duct. So I have seen both shapes with this tumor. The original onc hoped it was benign because of the irregular shape, but the biopsy concluded differently. Within a few short weeks, the tumor had formed into a more cohesive shape.
Dakota here is hoping for some good news after the meeting. Have a good weekend and stay warm. I have company coming for Thanksgiving from Milwaukee.
Dakota, My gut and my mind are telling me you need another opinion. Have you asked that all important question of how many CC patients this DR. has seen? It does not sound like he is familiar with this. Most cancers have spikes around the tumor. I would definitely get another opinion and sooner than later. You need an opinion at another place another ONC. I would not be with an ONC who asks more questions than I do. Sorry, that is just my opinion. Best of luck as always.
Regarding to the golf ball are they describing it as round, or just for size factor. Mine was described as the size of a cantaloupe, but they didn’t necessarily describe it as round. If that makes sense.
Are you guys feeling good about seeking a second opinion? I am about to do that myself in a couple weeks. Blessings.
PorterMary….how nice of you to sneak in and pass on information already. Thanks much and a warm welcome to you. When are you having the liver biopsy?
Hugs,
MarionHi Dakotabeann,
I am new here and have not yet posted an introduction, but I wanted to let you know that, based on some postings I read here, I called Dr. Chapman’s office and mentioned that I saw him listed on the advisory board for this site. They said he would provide a second opinion at no charge. I would just need to send the medical records and images on disc via FedEx and he and his team would review them for me and provide their assessment.
I am planning to do this as soon as we have liver biopsy results.
Hope this helps.
Mary
Hi, sorry to chime in so late… Don’t know how I missed this.
Yes, I have a tumor in section 8 predominantly. It is wrapped around the vena cava and has already taken 2 of the 3 hepatic arteries. It sounds like a similar placement??
I was given a glimmer of hope for resection. We did a portal vein embolization. I believe the left side continues to die off as the right side grows… BUT the lymph nodes exploded so I am no longer a surgical candidate.
If you can get the biopsy genetically tested to see about any info on which chemo works best, great. I had gem/Ox for 6 cycles and it worked wonderfully. Side effects are rather difficult for most of us. I also had gem/Xeloda, which worked on the tumor, but not the lymph nodes.
By the way, we ALL hate this cancer!! So vent away!
And if you didn’t have enough to worry about, you have the business, too. Hopefully that worry is mostly over and you can again concentrate all energies on fighting the monster.
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