Unrestctable cholangiocarcinoma tumors can be easily destroyed with Y-
Discussion Board › Forums › General Discussion › Unrestctable cholangiocarcinoma tumors can be easily destroyed with Y-
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November 11, 2008 at 10:11 pm #23812walkMember
Thanks, Carol. Maybe we could meet for lunch sometime when I am in W-S? My folks live in the Reynolda area.
Added: This process is approved by Medicare/Medicaid, right? Is that an option if his BCBS doesn’t come through? I am sure you have tried that route; just trying to help
November 11, 2008 at 10:06 pm #23811carol58SpectatorSure, sort of a long story though. Charlie was with an oncologist at Forsyth Hosp. last year when I first researched the microbeads. Dr. Kennedy’s name kept coming up on many of the sites. At that time, we weren’t happy with our dr. at Forsyth so I contacted Dr. Kennedy directly. We would have gone with that procedure if our insurance approved it last year, but I had also contacted UNC Hosp. and a surgeon called us to do a resection so that’s what we did. Now, I just trust Dr. Kennedy completely and I wouldn’t want anybody else to do the SIRspheres except him. We feel like he’s the most qualified and knowledgeable doctor to perform it. It may not matter anyway because it’s looking like Blue Cross of Illinois is going to deny it even after appeals. Still working and hoping though. I don’t have the answer to being coupled with chemo. Charlie’s had a lot of different kinds of chemo. I think even the SIRspheres alone would help him. Your welcome. I hope you get the answers you need.
Carol
November 11, 2008 at 9:40 pm #23810walkMemberCarol, can I ask why Wake Oncology and not Baptist Hospital? The Sirtex website shows they are both certified in this treatment. Also, it appears this therapy is most successful when coupled with chemo. Is that correct?
Anyone with experience with this therapy, please chime in!
Thanks and good luck to all!
November 10, 2008 at 3:44 am #23809carol58SpectatorGlad you found this. Dr. Kennedy is one of the doctors I was going to recommend to you. The other is Dr. Hanna Sanoff at UNC Hospital, Chapel Hill. If you have any recent scans that you can send or have sent to Dr. Kennedy, I think he can usually get a good idea from those, also liver function tests and a few other tests. He can tell you what he needs. He’s a smart man and a kind doctor. Please don’t worry if you don’t hear from him right away. I know he is out of the office for most of November. He usually answers emails very quickly. You can call them also. His nurse if great too. Mary England is her name. Hope this helps.
Carol
November 10, 2008 at 1:58 am #23808walkMemberI have contacted Wake Oncology via their website. How does one if they are a candidate for this?
October 25, 2008 at 7:04 pm #23807carol58SpectatorThank you for your post Wayne. Right now, we’re in the process of waiting for our insurance to approve this procedure. We met with Dr. Kennedy in Cary last summer, but got a call from UNC Hospital for resection. Charlie had that done, but unfortunately he still has tumors in his liver. After much chemo and many other procedures, we met with Dr. Kennedy again last week and all is on go for the SIRspheres except BC approval. We’re hoping to have it done the first of Dec. Charlie said he won’t have it done without approval first because of the cost. In the meantime, he’s having another IV oxaliplatin infusion next week along with Xeloda pills hoping to keep the tumors stable until insurance approval. I really appreciate all the information you’ve provided. Praying for a miracle with the insurance co. We really like Dr. Kennedy a lot! Sounds like you had a good experience with him also. I’m sorry Valerie’s cancer had spread.
Best wishes,
CarolOctober 25, 2008 at 6:19 pm #1680wayneSpectatorI have posted on this topic before but there are new studies verifying that even though the surgeons can’t remove the tumor because of its size or loication, a brachytherapy treatment where micropsheres are injected into the tumor blood supply accomplishes the same thing in a simple 2 hour outpatient procedure. My wife had it done and I can verify the results. Unfortunately the cholangiocarcinoma had spread outside of her liver into the peritoneum before we utilized this procedure. Here is a recent paper on the treatment. Not only can you now partially or completely destroy the tumor with few side effects so quality of life is better. Here is an excerpt from the article published in 2008:
“Treatment of Unresectable Cholangiocarcinoma Using Yttrium-90 Microspheres
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