Statistics are so frightening

Hello Everyone,

My mom is 65 and she was diagnosed with bile duct cancer at the beginning of November. She went for an ultrasound to confirm gallstones and everything spiraled from there. One test led to another until she got her diagnosis. The first tumor found was on her liver, but the doctor determined it had spread there from the bile duct. It has also spread to her lymph nodes. Her oncologist says this makes it Stage IV. She had a stent put in and her liver function test (billirubin?) has GREATLY improved.

The doctor made it clear to my parents that chemo only helps patients at this stage about 10% of the time, but she wanted to at least try since she is otherwise healthy. She gets Gemzar/Carboplatin every 3 weeks. After her third treatment next week, they will run tests to see if it is helping.

Everything you read about this disease really stinks! Is it even possible for the chemo to shrink the tumors to give her more than the 3-6 months the doctor is predicting? Any bit of hope helps my mom’s outlook tremendously.

Thanks for listening!
Cindy