Newbie Caretaker Post

Hi all,

I’m new here, and have just officially been signed onto this board. Before I get into my mother’s cancer story, here’s a bit of background. In May of 2013, my dad was struck by a cab in NYC, and developed a severe traumatic brain injury, to the extent where he cannot feed, clothe, or bathe himself, and his walking is limited to 20-30 steps a day. My mother is his sole caretaker, and has done an absolutely breathtaking job keeping him alive and well. She has been a nurse for 50 years, and a Hospice nurse for years after she left the hospital, so all this care is second nature.

At the end of October, she had an epic stomach ache, centering in her upper right quadrant, to the point where she had to have people come in more frequently and take care of my dad. She went to the doctor, who ran a few tests and scheduled an ultrasound, but was fairly certain it was nothing to worry about, given the fact that my mother is extremely healthy. And six days later, we got the call. “We found a mass, about 6cm, in your liver. How soon can you come in for a CT scan?”

We immersed ourselves in new language: hepatocellular carcinoma, colangiocarcinoma, biopsy, mets, primary source, PET scans…I became able to rattle her tumor markers off like a grocery list. In a matter of weeks she became more tired (we had someone come in more often to take care of my dad), began experiencing more pain (so far she’s been prescribed Tramadol, and liquid hydrocodone), and anxiety.

Her diagnosis is of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, and she’s being scheduled for a radioembolization at the end of the month (Happy New Year!). I don’t know what I should expect, but I thought I’d jump on this board to introduce myself, and get some insight onto this nightmare of a roller coaster we’ve all jumped on.

Hope everyone had a happy and safe New Year.