hopeseeker
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Hopeful,
My MIL just had her scans and the tumor in her liver had shrunk some so that was good news for us. I think I read that your husband is on Eloxatin (oxaliplatin)? That is what my MIL is on and it has shrunk the tumor so I hope for a good scan for you all too.
I don’t know much about all of this at all and just posted a topic myself about tumors shrinking. Do they shrink and then get resistant or do they continue to shirk increasing the chance of survival and quality of life?
These are questions I’d love to have answers too also. Im not sure what immunotherapy options are, but I hope you get some answers along with good scans and reports!
Hopeseeker
Dear Gail,
So very sorry for your loss. My heart and prayers go out to you and your family. You were a brave and wonderful caretaker to your beloved husband.
Pecangirl,
So sorry for your having to face this horrid cancer in your mother. This is an amazing group to help support and give great advice though. You will find much comfort here.
I don’t know much and have only been on this site for a few months which is when my MIL was diagnosed with inoperable stage 4 cholangiocarcinoma with mets to the liver, pancreas and gallbladder with lymph nods also involved. She is only 59.
My husbands family is taking it one day at a time and so far she is doing well, except for pain and not sleeping well.
Marions,
Now she says she feels fine so I am not going to continue to push her to get checked early. She will be going to see her oncologists PA (she doesn’t see her actual oncologist now) tomorrow so she will be able to evaluate her then. I will be sure to suggest she mention her symptoms to the PA.
Marion,
She did mention that she thought she has had a fever for the past few nights. I think she had metal stents with a plastic covering.
I wondered how long the stents would last. I’ve read many have had to have them replaced. Is this something they will have to keep doing over and over?
.How do they know if the stents are needing to be replaced for sure? Will they do a CT scan or some other test?
Debbie,
Thank you for your input! She actually had to have 2 stents put in one in each branche of her bile duct where it splits off. Her bile duct was completely blocked off and her bilirubin was very high when she was admitted to the hospital. She had driven herself to the ER due to the intense pain and inability to eat. That is when the cancer was discovered. The end of March. The dr did an ERCP to drain the blockage. She does not seem to have any jaundice right now, but I didn’t think that the stents would need to be replaced?
She seems to think these symptoms are from the chemo. She has had itching from the beginning, but a few of the other symptoms have just started I the past 2 weeks.
Thank you for all the great information and advice. My MIL had blood work again today and her levels are all back up to normal range again. The only number that is still off is her AST liver enzymes which are at 74, but down from 155 a few weeks ago so that’s progress also! I have read that the AST isn’t really a good indicator of a problem anyway so we are not worried about that number!
Marions,
Thank you for the article. Seems good hygiene and eating well are the best option. It’s just so scary to think her levels are so low.
Thanks,
HopeseekerFay,
Thank you for that advice. I didn’t realize that it could thin the blood. I am going to make sure my MIL asks her oncologist before she decides to use vitamin E.
Does anyone have any info on low platelets? 16 just seems SO low. I guess everyone is a little different. I guess her platelet level could be back up to a good range before her next chemo treatment this coming week? This is just all so new to us and we are trying to be educated and aware of what’s going on and what we can do to help her.
Thanks,
HopeseekerHopeful,
I like your online name. May you and your husband find help and hope along the way!My MIL is also on Oxaliplatin, but has only had 2 treatments so far. Right now we are dealing with low white blood count and platelet levels. Hope that the week off will give her body time to build back up for her next round.
This is a good community of support, but I sure wish I never had to find in the first place. What a hard cancer this is to deal with.
Joe,
My MIL was diagnosed at the end of March at stage 4 with mets in her pancreas, gallbladder and the lymph nodes surrounding those organs are also affected. Dr favor her 3-6 without chemo and 9/12 with chemo. She is on two 30mg slow release morphine a day with breakthrough pain meds to take in between. She is currently taking chemo-Oxaliplatin by injection, but her white blood counts and platelets are now low.
I didn’t know they would give blood transfusions to boost those, but I now know that may be the case soon due to reading your posts about your mom.
I am so sorry your mother has had such a fight. This seems to be a VERY fast moving cancer and the loved ones are left in shock at how fast it can progress and leave us feeling helpless. As family we just keep loving and moving forward to keep them comfortable and cared for.
This I all so new to us and we are taking it one day at a time. Prayers for you and your mother today.
My MIL had a follow up appointment with her onc yesterday. She is feeling good, but her platelets and white blood count is down. I figured that was typical of chemo and the reason they give a week off sfter her heavy and lighter chemo treatments. 2 weeks on, one week off.
Her next big treatment will be Tuesday, and I am hoping she doesn’t get sick this time because we have a big family gathering on my husbands side for Mother’s Day to celebrate and enjoy time together.
She has been very weak and tired, but the onc said her bilirubin level was good and liver function was good also. Those were both positive and great reports for us to hear!!
positivity wrote:Hello Hopeseeker,
Welcome, and thank you so much for sharing. It takes courage. All of us are in that state of shock and not understanding how this evolved and possibly not even heard of bile ducts. It was a shocking experience for me as well. It’s great you are helping with good nutrition, supplements, small meals, positive outlook as these are components in healing also. Chemotherapy is a personal choice and I understand individuals respond differently, but as hard as it is don’t listen to a time frame of a doctor. No one can determine the exact time frame a person has to live. Whether they are correct or not does not matter, as you are trying to help and find options. Are there alternative you can seek other than chemotherapy that are suggested by the oncologist? What do they recommend? What type of chemo are they using?It seems that maybe she is receiving Oxaliplatin. KarenD had some info on it for me and it seems it can cause rashes also which she is currently experiencing.
