Staying Positive

My husband, 58 was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma (klatskin tumor) in June 2006. We never go to Columbus Ohio but happened to be there at a meeting when he became deathly ill. He almost instantly became jaundiced and his blood pressure bottomed out. He was taken to the OSU Medical Center. If he had been home in our rural area I am sure he would have died but the fantastic staff at OSU diagnosed him and had his stent in place in no time and performed surgery within 10 days. Unfortuneately his tumor could not be resected. He has undergone 25 radiation treatments in conjunction with Xeloda and even though he has had a few setbacks is doing very well. He will be undergoing brachytherapy in a few weeks. We are also consulting with the University of Pittsburgh Liver Cancer Center to see if they feel surgery is possible now before he has the brachytherapy. I am puzzled by the fact that so many people are given chemo alone with no radiation. Everything I have read says that chemo alone is not very effective. Radiation therapy along with chemo seems to give patients the best chance. I also force my husband to eat well and drink tons of water. He is never “hungry” but I give him carrot juice, green tea, beets and as much good food as he can handle. I have just started giving him maitake mushroom extract. I feel nutrition is incredibly important and that most cancer patients probably suffer from malnutrition. I know he would live on ice cream and cookies if I let him!! He says sugar is the only thing that tastes good! He has lost 50 pounds but luckily had extra to spare so he actually is at an ideal weight. If it wasn’t for this horrible disease you would say he looked great! It has been a struggle with many ups and downs already but I am grateful for this site and the knowledge that can be gained from other’s experiences. Thank-you!