crissie
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I think it depends on how long it was since she had it drained and how her vitals are. My dad had ascites and had it drained weekly until the end. At the end he had it drained then died 3 days later. He was vomiting a lot and could not eat.
Hi Sam
My dad was in the same place. He was diagnosed and was told 6 months with and 1 year with chemo. Sadly he passed away this year…1 year after diagnosis.
Please feel free to ask me any questions.
I think that is too early to see any effect. My dad had his first CT scan after treatment at 3 months. His ended up shrinking but he never had an ultrasound done.
My dad did gem/cis treatment. It gave him a year. He was diagnosed at stage IV.
He tolerated the chemo very well.
I don’t know if this helps….
My dad died from this cancer in April of this year. At the end he didn’t describe it as “pain” but as discomfort. He used to say I know pain…I have had kidney stones. This isn’t pain it is more like discomfort…having the flu.
Now saying that he was on a very high dose of morphine. He just was not able to sleep. Once they got the morphine dose almost figured out he passed away. Now he also had ascites and wasn’t eating.
I hear you. I am 45 and my father died from this a couple of months ago at 66. I don’t think they would give you a cancer screening. One of my dad’s nurses said to get my liver enzymes checked yearly but some people have normal enzymes then find out they have stage IV CC.
Should I not drink at all (I like a glass a wine per day)…..should I not ever take any medications…..I don’t know. It seems like people are healthy and get this cancer. My dad smoked but he wasn’t overweight. He was on BP meds but overall looked great and had a physical every year (although I don’t think they drew a liver panel).
I don’t know. I am having a problem coming to terms with this myself. I am just thinking at 66 I will die.
Hi Heather…I am in Round Rock Tx. My father passed away in April of this year. His CT scan showed tumors on his oementum and then he began having ascites. He turned quickly after that. I would say it was about a month. He was not eating and would projectile vomit bile. His body was basically shutting down at that point.
Originally they didn’t think the ascites was a big deal but once drained it came back again quickly. He was probably drained 3-4 times before he passed. I don’t think the ascites was a “sign” but I do think that the oementum tumors and his lack of appetite were.I absolutely hate this cancer.
So basically there are no “set” symptoms. Even drawing liver enzymes doesn’t seem to be conclusive as some have normal levels.
I am so paranoid about this since my dad just passed from it. I know it is a maybe maybe not but I am an analytical mind that can’t deal with that.
I can tell you what happened to my dad. After the gem/cis stopped working he was waiting for his new chemo. That is when he started to get ascites. They drained it then it came back a week later; drained it again. He was vomiting (projectile) and not able to eat or sleep. This continued and was hospitalized many times. This happened over the course of a month until he passed. He described it not as pain but as discomfort. Like having the flu 10 times over. He was not eating and dropped a lot of weight. He was very aware of what was happening and could continue conversations. The last week I think he was having some hallucinations but that could have been from the morphine. Along with the throwing up his kidney function went caput. Slowly his organ systems were shutting down.
My father was on gem/cis and then they found some nodules on his omentum. They continued the gem/cis then did a scan. The nodules grew and they saw others. The switched him to oxaliplatin and 5FU.
Their thought was that since some grew they were becoming resistant to the gem/cis.
My family has no history of cancer. That is why it was such a surprise. Now my dad smokes…that may play into it somewhat. He did work at a nuclear power plant…as a guard. From what I read this is just a mutation that occurrs–not inherited. I have read that they think that maybe it shows in families because they are exposed to the same thing that caused the cell mutation but a lot of times it is just a spontaneous occurrence in one person.
How do others deal with maybe getting this cancer? Are you extremely worried or because the cancer is so rare not really concerned?
Well I talked to the NP. That was good. I told her that I was going to take a more active part. My dad is shy so he would say I feel bloated and not really explain. I told her ya he is pretty shy and where you or I would be Hey I am so bloated I can’t take it….he would say I feel bloated.
I also told her he is scared and we need to help him. Overall she said he is doing well with treatment and is doing much better than she thought he would…he was initially diagnosed with Stage IV Bile duct cancer.
