New member, father was diagnosed with klatskins tumor

Discussion Board Forums Introductions! New member, father was diagnosed with klatskins tumor

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  • #77181
    pcl1029
    Member

    SENSITIVE subject ;think if you want to know before you start reading.

    Hi,

    ” Is chemo good or is it better to live with the cancer and enjoy every good day of life.”
    To be honest:
    If I were at your dad’s age. I will choose no chemotherapy and enjoy every good day of my life ,sitting on the bench in front of my house and watch the beautiful things go by.(winter,spring,summer and autumn leaves.)
    Chemotherapy is never a good thing to begin with, even if it kills cancer and provide a few of us to live longer.
    Everybody can tolerate chemotherapy short term, but for long term usage, like years or the life time,for me it is inhuman.I believe the longer a patient on chemotherapy, the weaker he or her will become to fight against the cancer as well as other common disease; and of course this will affect the outcome of both the quality and quantity of life.t This is just my opinion only and not for purpose of guidance if at all.

    God bless.

    #77180
    willow
    Spectator

    Marco,
    Glad to see you posted here and I’m hoping you can find someone who has experience with the stereotactic radiation. Lisa Craine I believe has had it several times and is very helpful in general with CC questions.
    Don’t second guess your decision to guide your Dad toward the rad as oppose to the chemo. Chemo was just too hard on him that first go round. There are many different kinds of chemo and he may tolerate some better than others. My sister tolerated Xeloda well. Ultimately, it’s your fathers desires that should drive how hard and long he wants to fight. You’re a caring son, trying to do what is best. Please be proud of the help you’ve given him and stand by the path of treatment you’ve helped your dad with so far. Mostly he needs love and presence. Keep us posted when he gets the MRI.
    Sincerely, Willow

    #77179
    lainy
    Spectator

    Hi Marco. To Chemo or not is one of our biggest questions and it is a very personal choice. When my Teddy was DX he was 73. He had a Whipple Surgery and all was good for 3 years. Actually 4 diff ONCS/Radmen said no to chemo/radiation right after surgery as they said where his CC was it would not help. In the 3rd year it returned to the same place and again we got several opinions and all said no again. One ONC said if you were my father I would not put you through anymore but he did order Cyber Knife which bought Teddy 2 more years and again it returned to the same place. Then his ONC said we could do no more but he offered Palliative Chemo and Teddy said how much time will this buy me. The ONC said an extra month over the 6 he had predicted, Teddy sat quietly for 2 days thinking. He decided no as at 78 he opted for quality of life over quantity. The ONC was right on the mark, 6 months almost to the day he predicted. Now, everyone is different and different circumstances but to me the 2 most important questions are 1) If I was you father what would you have me do and 2) how much time will this buy me.
    I hope it helps to hear another’s story and remember there is NO wrong decision. Best wishes and please keep us posted. Be strong!

    #9125
    marco1
    Spectator

    Hello everyone glad to have found you. My name is marco and back in 2012 my dad at 74 had a ultrasound done where they found out he had a klatskin tumor in his bile duct. 2 weeks later they operated and removed his bile duct, lymph nodes, gall bladder, and half of his liver. No chemo was given. The surgeon said they removed everything and the tumor was removed. Wow we were happy that he survived the surgery and the cancer was gone. December 2012 he had a mri it showed that the cancer had spread to his liver(section 8). So january 2013 he started chemo he did 2 rounds of chemo and the second dose sent him to the hospital where he was hooked up to ivy, and returned home a week later. I then found out about srbt radiation so I took him to princess margaret hospital so the oncologist said he could do the treatment. So it was hard for me to choose chemo or radiation, here my dads life was in my hands. They have no figures on srbt if it would work. So we did the srbt 5 doses. After treatment he had no issues. After we went back 3 months later the ct shows that the area is still swollen and that they cant see, so on November 27 he will do a mri, for the results. Looking for people with the same issues as my dad has, to determine what is best to do. Is chemo good or is it better to live with the cancer and enjoy every good day of life. thanks and i will pray for everyone. i am new to this site so if you respond let me know how to get back to you and how to find people with klatskins.

Viewing 4 posts - 16 through 19 (of 19 total)
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