Liver Infusion Pump?
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I did have my CT scan today and then had a follow-up with my oncologist. Unfortunately, I did not receive the news that I had hoped to hear. There is no change in the tumors, plus he saw some new growth. But, we are not giving up, and we have come up with yet a new plan of attack. According to my son, “third time is a charm”. We are going to continue with the FUDR, plus I will receive a Xeloda pill and Irinotecan through my chest port. We will start this new regimine when I go back in 2 weeks. So, this will give my oncologist time to start fighting with the insurance company for aproval. Meanwhile, I will continue to fight even harder!
Cindy
I’m sorry to hear your insurance is being troublesome. I have Aetna, and although I never thought I’d say this, they have been pretty great. I still have lots of medical bills to pay, but I have an advocate at Aetna who calls me and keeps abreast of what I’m going thru. I don’t even check ahead of time for scans, etc. anymore. But they are covered, so I’m not going to complain.
I hope your insurance co. eases up on the necessary evils you have to go thru on this journey. Keep hammering away and hopefully you’ll get it cleared up with them… you need these tests to see how things are progressing. Tell them it’s much cheaper than hospital stays! Maybe that will work.
KrisHey Kris! Glad to finally hear from you. Congratulations on the news that the tumor is dying! I did not have the scan last Friday, I cancelled it at the last minute. The Dr. had ordered a scan of the chest, abdomen and pelvic area. My insurance would not “okay” the chest scan. I couldn’t get a hold of anyone at my Dr’s office to see if the abdomen & pelvic scan would give him what him needed. So, to play it safe, I had it cancelled. My Dr. will have to appeal to the insurance co. for the chest scan. I have my FUDR scheduled for this Friday morning, so I’m sure this will be discussed. Keep fighting Kris, and give your troll that hammer!
Kris, maybe your troll has a brother or a cousin? He’s sounds like the kind of mean SOB cancer needs as an opponent.
Again a big YIPPEE for you, Kris. I posted on your other post today so will leave this space for others!
Here’s the update from the onc and surgeon: the tumor is slightly larger… less than .5cm. AND IT’S DYING. The CT scan showed much of the mass didn’t take the contrast material well, which means it’s DYING!!! Maybe I need to sic my troll on it to just attack it with the hammer!
Unfortunately my liver enzymes are up so we have to rest the pump. But with everything that’s been going on the past few weeks I’m not surprised they are up. I’ve been taking oxycodone and tylenol for the severe back aches. Which, it turns out, are from arthritis and a slightly herniated disk. I’ll take it over spreading any day!
The surgeon says everything looks good but the tumor is still wrapped too much around the vena cava for surgery yet. We will meet again in Jan.Cindy: I hope you got your scan on Friday and have good news this week!
Kris
Jim: Be my guest, but until I know further, your friend can’t borrow my troll. They will have to get their own!! I am actually sitting waiting to see the onc and then the surgeon and hopefully I hear the words I’ve been hoping and dreading to hear… surgery… I may have other options and I hope to post later today in the good news section! Really stressing right now…
KrisDear Kris and Cindy,
I will be keeping you both in my prayers and I hope that your scans will be good ones. Stay strong and positive and know that many good wishes are coming your way. PeggyP
Kris, good luck with the upcoming meetings. This cc crap ain’t for sissies! I’m really excited about the effectiveness of the infusion pump in reducing lesion size. I’m hoping surgery is in your short term future. If you wouldn’t mind, I may want to email you soon to discuss the infusion therapy. I have a friend who may need to borrow your craggy old troll!
Yes, I’ll be meeting with my onc first and then the surgeon. I’m sure both will tell me something about the scan. But the surgeon will be pretty thorough. I like him: he spends as much time as I need with me. Good luck with the docs office and precerts. I had trouble with it at first, too…
Thanks Kris! I have always thought of Pacman eating the tumors too! Chomp, chomp, chomp . . . . . As of this moment, my CT scan scheduled for Friday afternoon might have to be rescheduled. My insurance requires precertification for all scans. I have checked twice, and no one from the oncologist’s office has phoned for the precertification. I am trying my best to keep on top of the situation, but for some reason, no one seems to be picking up the phone to follow-up on it, but me. Needless to say, I am not very happy at the moment. Will you get the results of your scan on Monday?
Cindy: As Lainy said, anxiety is a part of our lives. I KNOW my tumor has shrunk, but that doesn’t help the anxiety level as I sit here and wait for my scan. Because I don’t know how much more it’s shrunk yet… And I’ve been a wreck this week as I think about meeting with my surgeon on Monday. The not knowing what is going to happen is very stressful, and my backache is through the roof the past few days, probably in part because of the stress (I’m sure mostly because of the chemo). I can’t wait to get thru Monday and know what the next step in my fight is going to be.
Even though I stress about this, I try to stay positive. I was told to use visualization by a friend of mine. So I have this happy craggy old troll that picks off pieces of my tumor and eats it. BTW, he showed up: I was trying to do pacman. The first time, he stopped eating. He was happy, but full. And my scan showed the tumor had shrunk. He came back a few times to eat and always stopped with some tumor left. The next scan showed the tumor had shrunk more. The other day he ran out of stuff to eat. I’m PRAYING that means the tumor is gone. Think positive!! If you think negative you get negative.
So from now until Friday here’s your homework: picture your tumor in a white light, or pray, or visualize the tumor shrinking however you want. But think positive! You can stress, but don’t let bad thoughts stay in your mind. Push them out with the good news you’ve read on this site.
Once you get good news it gets easier. I had a rough time trying to stay positive from April until July when nothing seemed to go right. But I kept trying to stay positive. And when things finally turned around, it was easier!
I will keep you in my prayers that your scan on Friday goes great and you are one of the ones that has unbelievably good results with the pump!
KrisThanks everyone! My husband and I were just talking about this discussion board at dinner tonight, and some of the positive, upbeat posts we have read!
Cindy and Kris….A physician from Sloan mentioned to have seen some great results with the Hep. pump. This news should help some with the upcoming scan jitters. Of course you know that many fingers are crossed for both of you.
All my best wishes,
Marion
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