jmgrisolia
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Yes Fatema, thank you. We have to put an effort in this problem of food. We are thinking whether or not her symtoms could be encephalopathy. We will check with the doctor tomorrow morning. Thanks a lot
Jose
jmgrisolia wrote:fatema alzahraa wrote:Hi Jose,
As i remember you had a post asking about ascites, did you check your sister’s liver function?? if not you should do that. really i don’t want to scare you but “odd”” ideas and being talkative may reflect disturbed liver function and may be grade of hepatic encephalopathy, please don’t explain every symptom to be a side effect of chemotherapy.Another thing take care while using anxiolytics and SEDATIVES (Diazepam compounds), they are metabolised by liver so in liver illness they may be harmful.
Sorry if i made you worried but i should warn you, wish her and my mom spedd and soon recovery.
Please keep us updated.
I read this in wiki
“Encephalopathy often occurs together with other symptoms and signs of liver failure. These may include jaundice (yellow discolouration of the skin and the whites of the eyes), ascites (fluid accumulation in the abdominal cavity), and peripheral oedema (swelling of the legs due to fluid build-up in the skin).”
Right: her legs are growing, her abdomen as well (it was like that before but not so high like two weeks ago). I dont really think she shows the other symtoms of confusion, etc. She is not that different from her normal personality but we are alarmed anyway.
On the contrary Fatema I think what you are saying must be taking into account and we thank you very much for telling us. She is not taking diazepan, though. In fact she takes morphine for pain but nothing for reducing her anxiety (she behaves very sensitive and affectionate, talkative and content). We are talking to the doctor tomorrow (its night here and she is sleeping). Besides, I dont know if there is a connection but she have eaten (oddly she had appetite today) unhealthy food: fat and red meat (cooked with salt). Her swelling in abdomen is growing as well as her pain. We are really worried.
Hughs
Josefatema alzahraa wrote:Hi Jose,
As i remember you had a post asking about ascites, did you check your sister’s liver function?? if not you should do that. really i don’t want to scare you but “odd”” ideas and being talkative may reflect disturbed liver function and may be grade of hepatic encephalopathy, please don’t explain every symptom to be a side effect of chemotherapy.Another thing take care while using anxiolytics and SEDATIVES (Diazepam compounds), they are metabolised by liver so in liver illness they may be harmful.
Sorry if i made you worried but i should warn you, wish her and my mom spedd and soon recovery.
Please keep us updated.
On the contrary Fatema I think what you are saying must be taking into account and we thank you very much for telling us. She is not taking diazepan, though. In fact she takes morphine for pain but nothing for reducing her anxiety (she behaves very sensitive and affectionate, talkative and content). We are talking to the doctor tomorrow (its night here and she is sleeping). Besides, I dont know if there is a connection but she have eaten (oddly she had appetite today) unhealthy food: fat and red meat (cooked with salt). Her swelling in abdomen is growing as well as her pain. We are really worried.
Hughs
JoseJim Wilde wrote:Jose, I was on Gemzar for six months, and a major effect on me was appetite loss. I had to almost force myself to eat, especially the day of infusion and the day after. Lot of smaller meals helped, along with healthy snacks.Some years ago, following a cardiac surgery, I was given Ativan in the ICU, which caused an LSD type drug trip. They said no more of that for me!
Hello Jim, thank you for your post. I think she has unexpected changes of appetite. Unfortunately she does not feel like to eat most of the healthy anti-cancer food that we want her to take. She just wants to eat food that she craves for. Her excuse is that, otherwise she feels nauseas.
eli wrote:Hi Jose,About odd ideas:
As mentioned by Julia and Lainy, chemo drugs and steroids can play nasty games with the brain. In addition to that, check the side effects of anti-nausea or anti-anxiety drugs your sister takes. The following drugs are commonly prescribed to chemo patients:
Compazine (Prochlorperazine) anti-nausea
Reglan (Metoclopramide) anti-nausea
Ativan (Lorazepam) anti-anxietyThese drugs may all cause mental or mood changes.
Best wishes,
EliThanks Eli. Yes indeed. She is taking one of those (metoclopramide) along with several others and surely this is affecting her.
Lainy wrote:Dear Jose, we sometimes call this Chemo Brain! However, there are some Meds for hallucinations. Teddy used to say the walls were closing in on him. I would definitely talk to the Doctor about that and the weight loss! There are some nutritional drinks your sister can use that take the place of a full meal but first the Doctor needs to know what is happening. I am on steroids right now and sometimes I can’t catch up with what I am saying!Thank you Lainy. Yes, we will talk to the doctor about this. She is eating better now… Let me add something else: altough she is fine, no pain and fairly content, her face shows something bad, her eyes are too big and the color of her skin is somehow alarming. I dont know what to think but, of course, we’ll have to wait until the next test.
HughsLalupes wrote:Chemo produces some very “odd” side-effects, Jose. So do the steroids they add for the nausea. My sister gets extremely hyper-active on those. She can talk total nonsense in a perfectly rational manner, until my brain spins. This diminishes as she slowly reduces the steroids.The drugs she’s on also cause her to see things (my sister generally sees cats; another person I know sees vikings in full battle dress and my neighbour’s husband used to see Shaolin Monks walk into the house quite regularly).
I can’t comment on the weight-loss, but it could easily be the chemo, too. Do talk to your sister’s Oncologist or specialist cancer nurse, if you’re worried.
My very best to you both.
Julia x
Thanks for your comments Julia.
Hughs
Joseeli wrote:Hi JoseYes, it happens. Read Grover’s story. Grover’s tumor was nonresectable in June 2011. Grover did chemo from June to January. His tumor shrunk enough that Grover was able to have surgery on March 1st.
All threads started by Grover, The Miracle Man:
http://www.cholangiocarcinoma.org/punbb/search.php?action=show_user_topics&user_id=8727Think positive and keep hope!
Hi Eli. Thanks for this. It definitely gives hope.
Hughs
JoseI think I made the wrong question. I did not mean if my sister’s cancer is resectable. I meant: Does anyone know any case of a non resecteable CC that become resecteable after quemo? Is that possible?
Thank you
PCL1029 wrote:Hi,
The only way to answer your question is through a multidisciplinary medical team that consist of a hepatologist,a medical oncologist, an interventional radiologist and a liver surgeon.
For better understanding about CCA ,please listen to the audio webinar discussion post on this site by Marion on MD Anderson on cholangiocarcinoma just to-day.
God bless.Thank you very much PCL1029
hughs
Josefatema alzahraa wrote:Hi Jose,
I’m a cardiologist (heart physician) so i’ll try to answer your questions as i can. First of all you should consult her physician because i think there is no correlation between biopsy and ascites so you should make sure it is not an abdominal collection (other than ascites) which may be due to injury during the biopsy.Answer on Q1 yes she can but it should be well investigated, liver disease alone could cause ascites when liver function is disturbed (because one of causes of ascites is decreased albumin “a protein which is synthesized by liver) paracentesis could be performed under certain circumstances and according to its severity, so she should perform the following laboratory investigations (serum total proteins, Serum albumin, prothrombin activity and INR) then she may be recommended to receive human albumin or plasma according to the results.
I should also tell you that any malignancy could cause fluid collection in abdomen, around the heart or around lungs (which called serous cavities) so i told you to consult her physician who could differentiate.
Answer on Q2 ascites in general is not a good sign but don’t worry it could be managed.
I hope i gave you some information which may help you, wish your sister and my mom speed recovery.
Hi Fatema,
Thank you very much for this kind answer. It really helps. I wish the best for your mom.Hughs
Josemarions wrote:Jose….I understand your concern and hesitation, but you must know that people do respond favorably to chemotherapy. Why not your sister also? You have been a wonderful, supportive, brother to her all along therefore, continue to support her with her decision and think positive thoughts.
Intermittent scans and blood tests results will provide a fairly clear picture of response to treatment. Often time’s scans will be ordered following the 6th consecutive chemo dose although, at times and for various reasons, the physician may order scans after the 4th dose.
Either way, I am expecting to hear good news soon.
Hugs,
MarionThank you very much for your kind words Marion. I’ll keep you updated.
Hughs
JoseThank you very much to you all. It seems that there is not a clear conclusion about the effect of mushroon on this illness.
PCL1029 wrote:Hi,
The PDT message that both Gavin and I written was the response to your question this morning at 08:24 ; and nothing related to your sister’s intrahepatic CCA.“I wonder if this treatment is possible for CC. I have browsed in the forum and I have not seen this topic. If anyone knows about this I would appreciate any reply.
Thank you
http://www.nextgenerationpdt.com/ “
and your are right ,PDT is not for your sister;radioembo or chemoembo are the radiation treatment choices if so you choose after consultation with an interventional radiologist. good luck and
God bless.Yes PCL1029, I didn’t mean that you were wrong. I was just learning and sharing my doubts. Actually confirming that this treatment option is not available for her.
All the best
JoseThank you to both Gavin and PCL1029. There is something though in this technique that makes me think: according to what I read in the NCI
“The light needed to activate most photosensitizers cannot pass through more than about one-third of an inch of tissue (1 centimeter). For this reason, PDT is usually used to treat tumors on or just under the skin or on the lining of internal organs or cavities (3). PDT is also less effective in treating large tumors, because the light cannot pass far into these tumors (2, 3, 6). PDT is a local treatment and generally cannot be used to treat cancer that has spread (metastasized) (6).”
This seems to discard this method in practise for my sister since her cancer is metastatic to liver and lymphatic nodes.
All the best for both
