Update on husband in ICCA
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Jennifer,
You are more than welcome. I am glad that your mom’ tumor responded positively to the chemo and showed shrinkage. I hope for continued shrinkage so that resection is possible. We obtained a remote second surgical opinion from Dr. Kato (an opinion on whether or not we should proceed with the resection offered by UCSF’s Dr. Corvera). We were very impressed with Dr. Kato’s level of knowledge and experience, and he couldn’t have been kinder or more compassionate and positive.
Wishing your mom successful treatment. Please keep us posted on her progress.
Debbie
Hi Debbie,
Thank you for the information and replying. The information is very helpful. My mom’s tumor was 11 x 9 cm and has shrunk to 8 x 6 cm after first round of chemotherapy. They would not do surgery as they said tumor was too big and wrapped around her vena cava, so they wanted to do the chemo to have the tumor shrink and hopefully drop off the vena cava. She has 2 more treatments in her second round of chemo left and then will have repeat scans done. I emailed the surgeon who said he is looking for it to shrink more and hopefully we will see this in the new scans as he said that the tumor is part in her left lobe and part in her right lobe and he would like it to drop off to one side to go in and remove it. However, we are going to go for a second opinion to a Dr. Kato at Columbia Presbyterian who I sent her scans to and he said he could do the surgery.
So, hoping for the best.
Jennifer
Hi Jennifer,
Mike’ tumor was 10 cm in length and about 5 cm wide, and it was in the right side of the liver. He had nearly 70% of his liver removed. Perihilar cc . He also had bile duct involvement, so bile duct reconstruction and portal vein reconstruction. Surgery was at UCSF Medical center, Dr. Carlos Corvera.
Hope this is helpful.
Debbie
Deb,
How large was your husband’s tumor and what was its involvement in the liver? Right side, left side, vena cava, etc. Who did his surgery?Thanks,
JenniferHello Liz,
My thoughts and prayers are with you and your husband. I have come to understand that everyone’s CC experience is somewhat unique. That said, our best option seemed to be resection surgery once we found the hospital/surgeon we had confidence in. Sounds like you have a good one there in Michigan. My surgery took 9 hours and was somewhat complicated by the amount of the bile duct needed to be resected (hence the connecting of the liver to the intestine). Fortunately I was in good shape leading into the surgery (I’m a runner). I was in ICU for almost two days, then in hospital for another week. I left the hospital for an apartment near by for another two weeks before heading home to Cincinnati. I was up and walking a few days after the surgery and have progressed to now running 4-5 miles each morning. The MOST important thing is to keep your husband positive and in the “fighting” frame of mind. I credit my wife Tina with doing such. My best wishes to you and your husband. Please let me know if I can help in any other way. Take care and God Bless!
Dennis
Hi Liz,
In January, 2015, my husband had an extended right hepactomy with portal vein and bile duct resections (hilar CC). This is a more extensive surgery than is proposed for your husband but perhaps our experience can be helpful to you in getting an idea of what to expect. We were told that the first step in the OR is to open up and explore stomach and other areas to be sure cc hadn’t spread. (If it had, they would have stopped and closed him back up.) Assuming they proceeded the doctor expected total time in OR to range from 8 to 18 hours. In my husband’s case, it took exactly 10 hours – 3 to explore then 7 to perform the surgical procedures. The doctor utilized a “no – touch” technique, which essentially involves taking a slice of bile duct tissue where they think they have all the cancer and freezing it and running it to the lab for visual inspection. They do this repeatedly until they get clear margins and this takes quite a while, so contributes to the total overall procedure time. I would expect that your husband’s surgery would take considerably less time because it sounds like they are removing less of the liver and have no portal vein reconstruction involved.
After surgery, he was in ICU for one week and then a regular room for two more weeks before release. His complications included an embolism (blood clot) in the portal vein, a small bile duct leak and C-Diff (nasty bacterial infection). We are 80 days post-op and he is recovering well. Still weak but getting stronger every day. Planning to return to work soon. For us, the operation was absolutely worth the risk and the complications.
I agree with Judy’s comment that your doctor can give the best idea of expected timing. I love hearing about all the resections that are being scheduled lately. It seems like we’re making some progress toward managing and hopefully curing this awful disease! Wish you and your husband the best possible outcome.
debbie
I had the left lobe of my liver removed….laproscopically….total time in the OR was about 6-7 hours until I was back in my room. I had surgery on a Friday afternoon and was dismissed on Monday morning following surgery. THREE DAYS!!! No complications despite having diabetes and obesity and a previous heart attack 13 years ago. At about 3 weeks out, the disolvable stitches they used on the exterior incision , dissolved prematurely on a couple of the laproscopic holes and one longer, 4 inch incision. So, we had to clean and pack the incisions daily for about 3 months before that resolved. It wasn’t a big deal and the silver impregnanted packing materials we used kept infection away. The resulting scars are more pronounced than they would have been, but my stomach already looks like a tic tac toe puzzle from a previous appendectomy, myomectomy and cesearean. In the grand scheme of things….I don’t care…..I earned every last one of them. They’re my battle wounds.
)))I agree with Judy….every person’s surgery will be unique to them….and so will recovery. There are a lot of factors that are in play. The surgeon should be able to tell you approximately how long .
Julie T.
Based on my experiences which was in April 2007, it took the Surgeon, 4 1/2 hours.
It went well I was hospitalized for 4 day, Everything well as expected till one week later I had a incision which opened and leaked bile. Got an infection and was back into the hospital for 1 week. Everybody is different and heals differently you will hear so expect nothing but good. It could be faster or longer , ask the Surgeon and his/her what they expect and base it on their judgement.Hoping for the Best for you. More importantly no complications and great results. My FIRST question to all Surgeon is ” How many times have they operated this surgery on their fellow surgeon?” If they can state and identify the actual number, then you have a Great Surgeon !!! I want the BEST, not the runner up. If their peers trust,so can you. it give me peace of mind.
Judy
My husband was diagnosed in January with ICCA. He went on Monday to the University of MIchigan for a Portal Vein Embolziation. The doctor said that went well. Now we just wait 4 weeks to see if his left liver lobe has grown enough for them to go in and resect the right lobe of the liver, the tumor and all his bile ducts. Does anyone know about how long the resection surgery takes? We have family coming in from out of town and I want to be able to tell them what to expect on the length of time they will be at the hospital during surgery. Also, if anyone can give me some insight as to what to expect for his recovery that would be great.
Thank you.
Liz
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