My sweet mother
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I echo my sister in thanking you for all your replies. The people on these boards are amazing. I’ve been lurking here since May 2009 when mom was diagnosed and have learned so much just from reading reading reading. Thanks for being here for people like us! I think once things progress with our Mom I’ll be posting with more questions.
“Miracles can’t happen to those who don’t believe in them.” That’s amazing and true. I don’t hold out much hope for one, but I sure do believe in them.
KimKaren,
My prayers for you and your mother tomorrow. To quote someone else on this board (maybe someone’s dr.?? unfortunately I can’t remember who, and I can’t take credit)….
Miracles can’t happen to those who don’t believe in them. Here’s wishing you a miracle tomorrow.Linda Z.
Thank you all for the responses and kindness. It helps immensely!
The support is more than appreciated. I am anxious to hear what they have to say tomorrow. Her oncologist called her today and told her that he had other chemos he could try depending with they tell her tomorrow.
I just pray God’s Will be done and if that includes a miracle, I’ll gladly take it.
I will update once we know more.
Thank you all again!!!
Praying for you all.
KarenKimmie…hello. It is nice to hear from both of you. Fever and nausea often accompany this disease. I agree with Gavin’s comments re: the nausea. I would make sure to address it. Some medications work well although, at times, I found suppositories to be a better choice. You might want to discuss it with the physician. Less nausea would increase your Mom
Hi Karen and Kimmie,
Welcome to the site, although I am sorry that you both had to find us all here. And I am sorry to hear that your mum is not a candidate for further surgery. I can’t really help you with your chemo questions as my dad never had that either, but I just wanted to welcome you both here. Hopefully once the tumour board has met on Friday then you will have more information as to what treatment will be best for your mum.
As to the nausea, my dad suffered quite badly with that and went through a wide variety of anti-nausea meds and different combinations of these meds as well. Has your mum been offered any anti-nausea medication? And the fatigue was also something that my dad had a lot and it really got to him a lot.
The question of quality vs quantity is a decision that my dad had to make from diagnosis. His CC was deemed inoperable from dx and his treatment was PDT as this would have given him the quality of life that he wanted. He had the option of exploring chemo at a later date but as things turned out, he wasn’t suitable for it. This is not an easy decision to have to make, but I am sure that your mum will make the right choices for her.
My best wishes to you all,
Gavin
Hi, this is Kim – Karen’s sister.
Marion, regarding the on-and-off nausea and fevers, the oncologist said this is due to the cancer. Last May when she landed in the ER it was because of almost a week of nausea, vomiting and fever. That’s when they discovered her liver tumor.
We asked the oncologist about it last week, if she should be on an antibiotic if it was perhaps an infection causing the fever. But he said it was from the cancer. It’s generally been a low-grade fever 99-100, although one evening it went to 101.9. Tylenol seems to bring it down. The fatigue is another almost-constant symptom lately, and lack of appetite.
And I am like Karen – not in denial, just not ready to give up exploring all options available to our mom. Of course, it’s my mom’s final decision, but if there’s something that can keep the cancer at bay a bit longer while still affording her a decent “quality of life” then I want to know about it!!!hi karen, welcome to our family….sorry to hear about mom and wish her the best……my wife has had the y-90 treatment about a year ago and i believe it was the best treatment out there for her, everyones case is different…..as far as the procedure goes it is fairly simple as the doctors will explain to you…..first she must be a candidate for the treatment…the doctors will run a series of tests and than do a trial run using a placebo instead of the y-90….once this part of the procedure is done they will take x-rays to see if there is any leakage and to where its going….since y-90 is internal radiation not having any leakage is very important …but even if there is leakage the doctors can stop it. as for the after effects my wife did very well, the only thing was she was fatigued for 3- 4 days other than that she came away from the procedure fine but everyone is different…i know all of this is scary but the doctors and yourself will come up with the right decision…as for my wife i believe the y-90 was the best choice for her and i believe the best treatment out there,,,i have a cd explaining and showing how the procedure goes step by step if somehow i could give it to you i will…….good luck to your mom …..ron and lucille
Hi Karen,
Welcome to the most informative, friendly and supportive board in the world of cc.
I’m sorry to hear the position your Mum is in… My Dad had a failed liver resection last June but sadly never regained consciousness and died 9 days later.
How unfair to have to go through such major surgery only to have a recurrence, but sadly is not uncommon with what I have read of other people’s experiences on here.
Wishing you and your Mum strength as you decide with the doctor’s which path to take….
Katie
Hello Karen and welcome to our wonderful family. We just visited where you and your mom are at right now. To chemo or not to chemo. Made the decision 2 weeks ago when we found out that they can do no more for Teddy. We don’t ever want to have to make a decision like that ever again! It was agonizing. Teddy made his own final decision to not have chemo. He had a Whipple 5 years ago and was told by 5 great doctors that chemo would never work for him. He had cyberknife 2 years ago and then the CC returned near the same place, has wrapped itself around his right ureter and connected to his bowel. He is going to be 78 and said he has made his peace with God and he is ready for what ever comes. He wants no more than to just enjoy what ever time he has left without poking and prodding, he has had enough. It’s such a personal decision and all points have to be weighed. Just know that any decision you and your mother make is the RIGHT decision. Once the decision is made we found it almost a relief and now can get on with our lives. Like the ONC said, “you are still alive, so live, do what you want and enjoy each day”. Please keep us posted.
Hi Karen:
Welcome to the place that no one really wants to join. I can’t help with side effects of chemo embolization and therasphere since my husband Tom did not have that. He did have a liver resection. Transplants are very hard for CC patients to get because studies show that many times the CC returns in the new liver.
Go with God and KEEP KICKIN’ THAT cancer.
Margaret
I am new to this board as a member, but not as a lurker. I have learned so much from you all.
My mother, Bonnie was diagnosed with CC on May 20th, 2009. She had a 10cmX 8cm tumor on her liver. In July she had a liver resection and in August started Gemzar/Cisplatin chemo which finished in December. Her CT scan in December was clear. Her bloodwork in March 2010 was great. However her CT scan from last week showed multiple small tumors on the other side of her liver. We saw the surgeon yesterday at University of Maryland who said she wasn’t a candidate for surgery. He is taking her CT scan and blood work–her CA 19-9 went up from 23 in March to 94 in June–to tumor board on Friday. All the oncologists will discuss the findings and come up with recommendations. He talked about chemo embolization and therasphere. He told her that she has 6 months and the chemo emoblization as well as the therasphere may only give her 7 1/2 months. And that she needed think about quality vs quantity. Which I fully understand because I am a hospice nurse, but this isn’t one of my patients, this is my momma. She is feeling pretty good right now. Some bouts of nausea, but they don’t last that long.
The question that I have is about side effects of chemo embolization and therasphere. What are they and how long do they last? I realize that every person is different, but how long have prolonged people’s lives?
From what I read also, I assume since she had a resection, that’s why she can’t have a transplant? I also looked into cyberknife, too.
I am not in denial. I just want to get her all the help she can get, but if it causes her to be miserable with the time she has left, I don’t want to do it.
Thank you all!
Karen
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