A large mass was found on my liver the day before Thanksgiving. After a month of tests, procedures, consultations, etc. we now know that it’s Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma. My liver specialist and oncology team can’t definitively stage it because there are several local lymph nodes that are suspicious, but they can’t be studied without opening me up. It’s either Stage III or Stage IVa.
The good news for me is that my liver specialist (Dr. Srinivas K. Reddy) just opened a clinical trial in Minneapolis to study the synergy of chemo and radiation in shrinking these tumors in order to allow resection in the future. Age and good health are on my side – I’m 46 and generally healthy. We are hopeful that surgery will be an option in the near future. Doctors and nurses in the trial have said that they believe I will tolerate treatment and (hopefully) the eventual surgery well. I hope they’re right.
I’m glad to have found this group and am looking forward to reading your stories and learning from your experiences.