bigsister

I am BigSister and my younger sister Jessica was diagnosed in June of 2010 with CC. She satrted out with Gemzar-Oxiplatin but after 2 rounds her tumor grew. They then switched to Gemzar-Cisplatin the one where you have to stay away from the cold for a couple of days. For the past month and a half she has been having to be drained every 14 days and the past couple of weeks every week to the tune of 4.5 liters or more.

She also is having the bowel movement problem and sleep only comes in waves of 2-3 hours at a time. After seeing 3 surgeons, one being from Mayo Clinic, none wanted to do any surgery. She decided to try one more and found a more agrressive surgeon, who along with a team of surgeons, are willing to at least go in and check to see if they can remove the left lobe of her liver and treat the tumors on her right lobe. She said they would do a laproscopy first to see if it is feasible and if not, at least put a shunt in to help with the draining. I think she mentioned a procedure called “debulking.”

My sister is 40 yrs old. and has been an ER nurse for the past 17 years. Some of her friends are upset that by having this surgery she is taking a big risk. She knows there are risks to every kind of surgery. She explained to them that giving birth is a risk and people who travel for work are risking their lives by stepping on a plane. You just don’t think of it. She is looking at the positives of the surgery but others are not. When she told me, inside I was scared, but I know this is what she has to do so I support her decision. She even spoke to someone who had this operation done 2 years ago at the age of 55 and is now cancer free for the past 2 years.

She can tell us of the pain of feeling her liver rubbing against her ribcage making it hard for her to breath, or the pain of caring around an extra gallon of fluid around. She has lost 20 lbs. since this all has began and since she is a nurse, there are times they would have hospitalized her for observation, but because she knows what to watch for she has been able to return to be with the family.

Though some of us might not think it is a good idea for this operation we must be there to support her. They have to look at it as if someone needed an organ transplant or heart by-pass surgery. The patient would probably die if they don’t have the surgery but one wouldn’t tell them no. We have to be positive and think postive for the person who has the cancer. We have to take ourselves out of the equation.

Thanks for letting me vent and if anyone has tips on keeping weight on with low sodium she would greatly appreciate it.

Hi, Kathy, thanks for replying. I am not sure what nausea meds she is on but she is still eating; she is an eater. She just says her stomach feels fuller quicker but she still has an appetite.

If you go to her blog: http://bubbasez.blogspot.com, she is very thorough about her treatments. She is all about educating people regardins this cancer. She also throughs in a lot of humor to help her and others geth through the day. I talk to her everyday but I look forward to reading her blogs every morning.

She spoke to one of her nurses and they have her going in tomorrow for another CT and then she has a meeting with a ca surgeon on Thursday. I have another sister who is a nurse and she mentioned ascites as well. With my dad being a pathologist, my sister Jessica being a nurse and I have another sister who is a nurse, these terms seem to roll off their tongues so easily that I have to ask them to give it to me in simpler terms.

Thank you agin for your support and I will keep you posted on her results.