Update on my dad!

My dad, Jim, was diagnosed with CC on 9/16/12…he’s since been on gem/cis and has only had 4 treatments. We received a CT scan after the 1st treatment and his tumor already shrunk from 4 cm to 3 cm which is a whopping 25%! He had a metal stent placed at the end of November. The end result of this procedure had him admitted to the hospital for a week with 3 major blood infections. They believe this was caused from bacteria on either the stent or the tools that were used. This was a major set back for my dad, as he missed 2 rounds of chemo and actually ended up back in the hospital overnight after being home for a week or so. For over a month, he had antibiotics administered by an IV that he could not take off of him at home. His gallbladder also became infected and he had to have an external drain placed to relieve it. They ended up putting a plastic stent back in. Now for the good news…when they placed the plastic stent, the Doctor came out and told me that his bile duct really isn’t restricted anymore because of the signigicant shrinkage. The Doctor said he might not even need the plastic stent replaced because there is no major restriction. His infection is gone and tomorrow, the Doctors are pretty sure that they can remove the drain entirely as his gallbladder seems to be functioning again. His liver tests are all normal and his CA-19 went from 600 to 39!! He is pain free, has energy and pretty much feels like he did before CC. The best news is that he has been approved by his insurance company to see Dr. Kato on March 1st. Dr. Kato has reviewed his scans and is confident that he can remove the tumor. We are definately a mixed bag of emotions! One concerning issue is that his Oncologists at Dana Farber aren’t thrilled about the surgery. They want him to just remain on chemo even though it is not a cure. We do not like this attitude and it really gets my dad down. We understand that there are major risks and there is a high recurrence rate, but other people on this wonderful board have had great success with surgery and we hope to be one of those stories! Thank you everyone for taking the time to post your stories and advice. Honestly, I would have never found Dr. Kato if it wasn’t for the board!!

Nikki