jim-wilde
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Kris, I wouldn’t expect any symptoms from removing parts of the liver. After my resection (took about 50%), I had no symptoms, other than normal abdominal surgery stuff (some soreness along incision lines mostly). Other than that , nothing remarkable.
Dianne, so good to hear your still clean. I’m approaching my third new birthday as I call it. I’m going through a period of uncertainty, but there’s no clear evidence that the monster is back. I’ll know more tomorrow (PET in the AM), will have the scoop by noon, the hospital gods willing.
Keep your good scans coming.
Kathy, great to hear ‘clean’. Hernias are a mess. I ended up with three big incision hernias. Be careful about the fix. Make sure the surgeon has done lots of big abdominal hernias. In my case, after consultation with my trusted cardiologist, I decided to not do anything, which was the cardiologist’s preference. She has a lot of heart transplant patients and told me most end up with large central chest hernias. Those that get them fixed surgically, usually see them fail within two years … with a worse result than doing nothing at all provided.
Keep those clean scans coming!!!
If this is what’s also known as RFA (Radio Frequency Ablation), it’s NOT experimental and has been used for a number of years for cc patients. I think the ‘experimental’ tag happens pretty often with cc, bc there are so relatively few cases per year and bc of that they call a lot of procedures for cc patients ‘experimental’. There are ways of making insurers do things in the “American” way.
Good luck getting the right treatment.
Lainy wrote:Kris, NY!!! Let’s see. You are too late for the Christmas Parade and too early for the Easter Parade so what could be more important!!! I know, your own Parade. My thoughts are SO with you today and DON’T let them Rain on Your Parade!!!Ah, buts there’s St Patrick’s Day, a really big NYC deal, but crap, us CC patients can’t drink!!! What fun is that.
Kris, I saw your FB posts and glad all went well. Is the left side liver where the pump connects?
Grover what wonderful news. I’ll bet you never thought you would be overjoyed over the prospect of a major surgery. I was too, but I didn’t have to travel the same road you did. This gives hope to those at the earlier parts of the journey, for it is a journey, and not an event or series of events. I(‘ll be thinking of you on March 1. While the surgery is a major surgery, most come through it just fine. I had several things not in my favor (major cardiac issues and age). Most resection patients are maintained under general anesthetic following surgery for a day or more. Even though I had several VT events during surgery, I was wide awake the following morning, breathing tube was already removed and I was feeling pretty good.
Tiff, CA19-9 and liver function numbers becoming more in the normal range is very good news. CA 19-9 (pancreatic cancer marker test … most cc responds to this also) is subject to some amount of random variation and is influenced by any inflammations or infections you may have. Normal max is 37, but mine have been in the 80 to 156 range since August 2011, without any good explanation. In the liver panel, the bilirubin direct should be < 1.0. Again mine have been slightly elevated. High bili numbers can prevent surgery ... it did with me until the number got close to 1.0. Grover, best of luck with your surgery and sending prayers your way
Tiff, you did just fine and I loved your delightful southern accent.
Lauren was great too. Young love is just wonderful!!!Katrina, I am in a period of uncertainty also, but for different reasons. I had a resection 4/2009, with clear margins, then six months of adjuvant Gemzar. I have had all clean scans (CT and PET/CT) for the past almost three years. Starting in August 2011 I’ve had somewhat elevated CA 19-9 and bili numbers. Prior to then, all blood work was completely normal.
One of the really crappy features of cc is the high probability of recurrence, which keeps all of us worried, even after a successful surgery. I’ve decided to not worry until one of the scans shows something to worry about, and have rationalized that CA 19-9 is affected by a bunch of things other than just cancer. I think you have to know you picked the very best doctors you can find, then put your faith in them, and just reconcile yourself that you will just live with cancer, but don’t let it control your life. My onc has put me on a more frequent followup and scan schedule (four months) and monthly blood tests (CEA, CA 19-9, chem 20, etc.).
Good luck with your followup care.
Fatema, I would expect ‘stationary’ to be good, but I would discuss the meaning of that terminology with the radiologist. I think dormant, stable and stationary are used interchangeably, but I would prefer clarification from the radiologist. No need to guess here.
My take on the number of cycles is that three may be too soon to see a material change, if there is going to be one. Again, your mom’s onc can probably give you a better read here too.
I play ‘stupid’ with my doctors and ask lots of questions (and keep a careful journal so I don’t repeat the questions … these things [cc] are journeys rather than events). Mine is now over three years and counting.
Wishing you the best in getting the very best care for your mother.
Fatema, I don’t know a lot about Y90, but will share what I think is true. I have a dear friend who has had one treatment of Y90, and will be allowed only once more (I assume because of toxicity). For her, it was pretty effective. She had 15 external liver lesions. The first scan following the procedure showed 12 were now ‘dormant’, whatever that means, but we took it as a good thing. Three are now ‘stable’, which we read as still active, but no larger than earlier, which is good. Side effects were mostly fatigue, which was not severe, and most have disappeared over time. A mapping procedure precedes the actual Y90 procedure. The mapping is to ensure no more than a small % of Y90 goes to the lungs or other organs. If the criteria are not met with the mapping, the Y90 cannot be done. My friend also did not have any known mets.
I hope this information is helpful to you. Good luck in getting the right treatment for your mother.
clkempf, Dr. Tomoaki Kato at NY Presbyterian has operated on patients with lesions around the vena cava with success. Contact info for him is below my name in the signature. He’s a brilliant surgeon who takes intelligent risks and has the skills to back it up.
Good luck.
