My Mom
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Hi Shar,
Welcome to this site. I’m sorry to hear about your mom, but just as the others have stated, keep planning for the future. My husband was diagnosed 3 and a half years ago with Stage IV intrahepatic CC. He has maintained a positive attitude throughout and we live one day at a time. He sets goals and I’m so happy when those goals are met. He wanted to take our two grandchildren that we have custody of to Disney World and we did that in May 2010. He wanted to see our grandson who just turned 9 pitch his first baseball game and he got to see that last spring. He wanted to take the kids on their first airplane trip, so we flew to Wisconsin in August to visit his sister. He wanted to see Kaden quarterback his first football game and he saw that this past fall. He wanted to see Kali play high school basketball, and she made the JV team this year in 8th grade. She had a real good game Tuesday night and they play again tomorrow night. Kaden has his first game of the season on Saturday. John has been on chemo this week so he’s pretty wiped out at night, but he still makes himself go. I have been sick this week with some kind of virus, and I feel so guilty when I get sick and I think about everything that John has been through. I guess what I am trying to relay to you is do as much as you can with your mom while you can and those memories will remain with you forever. I lost both my mom and dad in 2010 and I think about them everyday. I hope your mom bounces back and that you will have lots of time together. Sending lots of well wishes your way, PeggyP
Hi Shar,
Welcome to the site. Sorry that you had to find us all and I’m sorry to hear about your mum. But I am glad that you have joined in with us all as you have come to the right place for support and help. Not really much that I can add to what the others have already said to you, but I just wanted to stop by and welcome you here.
My dad also had a stent, but he had a metal one which should last longer on average before clogging becomes an issue, around a year or so. Is your mum taking any nutritional supplements such as Ensure or anything like that to help try and keep her weight up?
Glad that you have joined in with us all and please feel free to ask any questions and we will do what we can to help in answering them. And please keep us updated on how your mum gets on. We know what you are going through and we care.
Best wishes to you and your mum,
Gavin
Shar, I just want to pass along my love and prayers to you and your mom. It has got to be tough on you. I am dealing with this cancer but I think I would be a complete basket case if it were my mom. That love and bond we have with close family members is just amazing. We would do anything to take away their pain and problems.
Stay strong and positive for Mom. Planning something in the future is what keeps me going. Something to look forward to and work for.
I have read your post and can relate 100% as I help my Mom (76) who has bile duct cancer. I would get a good explanation from the doctor (as best you can) as to the type of stent. There are many reasons why one is used over the other. This site has been such a big help to me in learning. Thank you for mentioning the temperature taking and to Lainy about the chills. I hope your Mom will feel better today.
Thank you for all your support. I have been reading this site for several months and the support is one of the reasons I joined. People mean well but until you go through it you just don’t completely understand.
Marion- Mom does have a plastic stent, they talked about metal when they had to change it in two months but decided to try plastic again. Yes, fluids is one thing she works very hard at. She struggles with eating but, she has been “making herself eat” and so far has been able to maintain her weight.
She is checking her temp daily, and luckly we did catch the recent infection very early.
Hi Shar,
Welcome to the site. I am sorry to hear about your poor Mom. I hope things get better for her. My daughter is the one with CC. We never stop planning and continue to live our lives as normally as we can. No, scratch that. We live our lives better than we did before because you really never know how long you will live if you have CC or not. You know the song lyric, “Live like you’re dying.” That’s our motto. I wish you and your Mom all the best.
-Pam
Hello Shar and welcome to our awesome family. Plan and plan some more, life is not meant to be put on hold. We don’t have expiration dates stamped on our feet so we try our best to live life even on this bumpy ride. I remember the blood infections well.
Teddy had stents and they changed them every 3 months. If he started running a fever and getting icy chills I knew it was time to get him to ER. They would put him on Levaquin and it was teriffic and fast. But it does take time to recover from the infection. Where is your Mom being treated? Yes, things are out of control but we learn to roll with the punches and we try to stay strong. You never know how strong you are until “strong” is the only choice you have! Please keep us posted on your Mom’s progress.Shar….welcome to our site. Please do not shy away from planning on the future. We compare this cancer to a roller coaster ride and yes at time, it can be very disheartening, but the good times roll again also.
I assume that your Mom has a plastic stent – they are prone to infections and need to be replaced (on the average) every three months.
It helps to take the temperature daily. Any elevation and fever can then be reported to the physician promptly.
Blood infections are particularly draining therefore; it will take some time for your Mom to regain her strengths.
How is your Mom responding to the chemotherapy? Is she taking in large amounts of fluids?
I am so glad that you have found us. The experience shared on this site is unsurpassed to any other CC cancer site and you can be assured that tons of information will be heading your way.
We are in this together.
All my best wishes,
MarionMy mom is 75 and was diagnosised with inoperable cc last August. This came from out of no where. She was active and we thought healthy. She always had a yearly physical and did all the yearly tests. The whole thing started with the symptoms I have read so much about. The itching and then the jaundice. The cancer is in her liver, bile duct and gallbladder.
From the time of diagnosis the doctors moved very quickly. She had a stent put in within 2 days and within 2 weeks was starting her first round of chemo (gem/cis). She was tolerating this chemo very well with very few side effects.
Unfortunetly in October she started running a temp and we soon found out that the stent was blocked. This time, things didn’t move as fast and by time they replaced the stent her bili was at 13. This was a hugh set back physically and she is still working to try to regain her strength. The also discovered that the tumor was growing in the bile duct, although the tumor in the liver remained stable, so they switched the chemo to 5fu/oxal.
We just completed the 4th treatment of this reg. and will not have another CT until after 6 rounds. This regimate is much harder on her and she does very little daily. She also had to deal is a blood infection about 3 weeks ago.
We are trying to take things a day at a time, but the hardest part of this for me is the unknown. Do you plan events for 2 months out – how about 6 months out. I always feel things are so out of control.
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