My Introduction
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Matt…..no disagreement on the description of cancer. There is however; very good news embedded in your message to us in that you had been eligible for a resection. As Lainy has said: Congratulations. Recovery from such an invasive surgery can range from alright to complicated and I believe you fall somewhere in the middle of this spectrum. Not how you must feel, but according to the thousands of stories published on this site, you have faired rather well.
You will move forward, dear Matt; it simply takes time and patience. Your body must recuperate and that generally happens in small increments. Many have been able to resume their employment within in a few weeks sometimes part time or even full time. I wish for the best for you.
We always are happy to grow participation on this board because; each and everyone brings wisdom and support to this site. Therefore, thank you so much for joining in.
Any questions you may have and any advise you would like to share with this special group of people please do so. We strongly believe in the motto that we are in this together – all the way.
Hugs,
MarionDear Matt, welcome to our fabulous family. You certainly did all the right things and Congratulations on your successful resection even though there were some bumps in the road. you get a big YIPPEE! I hope the rest of your recovery goes real smoothly. You have come to the right place for help and support. Wishing you the very best.
Hello Everyone,
I’m a 47 year old living in Richmond, Virginia, who was diagnosed in December 2013. I have an amazing wife and four wonderful children ages 5, 7, 15, and 18. My youngest started kindergarten and my oldest started college this past Fall.
Short story: In late November 2013 I started itching slightly and feeling tired with minimal discomfort under my ribs. By early December my urine was getting darker and I knew something wasn’t right. A trip to my general practitioner for some liver function blood tests resulted in a trip to the ER for an ultrasound and CT scan that only showed some dilation of my bile ducts. The next week I saw a specialist who did more liver function blood tests and the results were still higher. By this time I was also getting noticeably jaundiced. The specialist admitted me to a local hospital (VCU/MCV) the following day for more testing. It was there that they did an MRI (MRCP) and delivered the bad news.
My wife and I flew out the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN on December 22, 2013 to begin liver transplant evaluation – what we thought was my only shot. After about two weeks of testing we were told that resection was an option and the recommended course of action. We returned home for a week in early January, 2014, with plans to return to Mayo for surgery on January 17, 2014.
On January 17, 2014, I had an operation to resect the left lobe of my liver, remove my gallbladder, and reroute the remainder of my common bile duct to my intestines.
My tumor was fairly small and all margins were negative as were the gallbladder and all lymph nodes that were removed. Surgery was a SUCCESS, from my perspective.
Immediately post op it was evident that I had a bile leak so they took me back to surgery the next morning to find and tie off a bile duct leak that was missed.
I spent ten days in the hospital recovering from the double surgeries – far longer than I anticipated. I also had some surgical incision infection and they had to open the ends up to clean it out.
I’ve been recovering at home since the first week in February and nursing two deep incision wounds left from the infection.
I lost about 35 pounds between October and January (185 down to 150) and have just started putting a few back on.
I’m expecting to go back to work mid March.
I’ll post more details tomorrow as well as future plans.
I’m looking forward to the support of everyone on this forum and hope my experience can be helpful to others in the future.
-Matt
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