My CC stiry
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Your story is truly miraculous. My prayers are with you for a full recovery and many healthy years with your little girl and family.
Thank you everyone for your kind words!!! Sorry it has taken me so long to answer questions and reply back. Christmas Day was my 4 month anniversary of my transplant and what a wonderful day it was!
Regarding questions about my chemotherapy, it was orginally scheduled to start mid-November. I met with an oncologist back home in KY who refused to treat me; he felted like my WBC was too low to survive the chemo. I met with another oncologist who was very honest about my potential risks. Kidney failure and serious infection being the two main ones. After much thought and talk, we decided to decline chemo. My oncologist agreed. My husband started having doubts two days later and after pestering everyone at UCLA, he finally got through to Dr. Busettil. After looking at the pathology of my orginal tumor and consulting with a colleague, Dr. B agreed that chemo for me had more potential risks than proven benefits.
Jathy1125- We have more in common than you realize. I graduated from Murray State in 2005!!!Rachael,
Well, I think 16 surgeries qualifies you to be some sort of queen on this board and I will happily nominate you. That little girl has one tough mom! Full speed ahead to chemo, keep us posted!
Patty
Best wishes to you. You have so much to live for and a transplant seems to be the best bet. Let us know how it goes.
Kris
Hi Rachel,
Welcome to the site. Wow! That sure is some jorney that you have been on and thank you so much for sharing your story with us all here. Hopefully as you say the chemo will be the last stage of your wild journey and I will keep my fingeres crossed for the best possible outcome for you.
I hope that you will keep coming back here and lets us know how things are going for you as you have so much to share with others. And here you will get a ton of support from us all. And if you have any questions then please just ask and we will all help if we can. Looking forward to hearing more from you.
My best wishes to you,
Gavin
Yea Rachael! I am s cc survivor due to not one but two liver transplants!! I received my first transplant May 24, 2009 and my second July 4, 2009!! I am also a mother to a 23 year old amazing daughter (a little older than yours, haha!!). I was given only 36 hours to live, unless a new liver could be found. I was in a coma and on life support for 3 weeks and ICU for a month. I was in the hospital for another 3 months. Thanks to the most amazing doctor, Dr. William Chapman I am alive. I always tell the story how he told me I would see Cates, graduate from Murray State University, KY and on May 8, 2010 I did. Dr., Chapman is an american hero!! I am so excited to celebrate my first healthy holiday season in 2 years!!
I am kinda of curious why chemo now, are you not cancer free? All my chemo and radiation was done prior to transplant as per protocol for trial.
Congrats and lets keep reminding everyone to be a donor, you will save someones life, we are living proof!!! God’s miracle-Cathy
(P.S. another interesting coindence was I received my official diagnosis Aug 5, 2080)Congratulations Rachael! Thanks for telling us your story. You give hope and inspirations to people who are looking for help. Your story is an example of never give up. Awesome!…. You made my day.
Ciao
Dr CanadyRachael…what an incredible story you have shared with us. Sixteen surgeries with the eventual outcome of a liver transplant
Hello Rach and welcome to our wonderful family! You are a wonderful force to be reckoned with. Another Miracle and I am sure your whole family is in awe of you as we are. Keep up the fantastic attitude and please don’t be a stranger, let us know how you are doing.
Rach883,
Congrats to you!!! What a journey! I am so glad you found us and are here to share your incredible story! It seems like everything lined up after an awful struggle in such a short time!
How are you feeling? How long is your course of chemo? This is a wonderful community!!!!
All the best,
Stacey
Hello all! My name is Rachael. I am a 28 year old mother to a sweet 21 month old little girl. On Aug 6th 2010, I was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma. Since then, I’ve had 16 surgeries including a failed liver resection at Jewish hospital in Louisville, KY and a liver transplant at Ronald Reagan Medical Center in CA. Dr. Marvin, my surgeon, took a chance at removing my 9cm tumor and 70% of my liver. Unfortunately, my portal vein clotted and caused my remaining liver to fail. By some stroke of luck, Dr. Busetill at UCLA agreed to take me as transplant candidate. On Aug 23, I was flown while on advanced life support to CA. On Aug 25th, I received my new liver. I spent another 3 weeks in ICU and was on life support for alot of it. I finally was able to return home to KY last week. In hopefully my last step of this wild journey, I start chemo this week.
I look forward to getting to know you all.
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