jmgrisolia
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marions wrote:Jose…not all physicians use Paracentesis (the removal and of fluid from the abdomen with a needle) for palliative purposes however; those institutions focusing on hepatobiliary disease most likely will be do so. This is whom I would contact.
Hugs
MarionThanks Marion. However, this point worries me. We are going to ask the doctors why they chose not to remove the fluid of the abdomen. She is back to the hospital shortly for another chemo. She is crying and suffering altough I think she is tolerating well the side effects.
Hugs
JoseLalupes wrote:Welcome to this wonderful site, Jose. My thoughts are with you and your sister. My lovely sister has cc, too. She was diagnosed in August 2009 and is still doing well in March 2012. She has been told her cc is not behaving the way they expected it to. I hope your sister proves her doctors wrong, too. Please don’t listen to “life expectancies”; as Lainy says, absolutely no one knows.My best to you both
JuliaAll my best for you and your sister as well. We are feeling more positive now. Thank you very much
Josehollandg wrote:Jose
I also wish to welcome you to this site and to echo what everyone here has advised you. You are doing all the right things by getting 2nd and 3rd opinions and learning everything there is to know about CC. Most of all you are there to support and be an advocate for your sister.Good luck
Gerry
Thank you very much Gerry, finding this discussiong is really helping me. I feel a bit more optimistic but always realistic. I think this is the adequate balance.
Pamela wrote:Dear Jose,As long as your sister is living, there is always hope. I have a daughter who is only 25 and has CC. I promised her I will do everything to help her and never give up hope that one day she will be cured. I hope you will do the same for your dear sister. My Lauren has intrahepatic CC with a large tumor on one side of her liver and five small tumors on the left. She has had twelve rounds of chemo and has seen a lot of shrinkage in her tumors. We hope one day that she will be able to have surgery. Please keep thinking positive thoughts and welcome to the site. I hope we can help you. Take care.
-Pam
Dear Pam, thanks for your support. It’s a great news that tumors of your daughter are shrinking. I hope the same happens to my sister. All my best wishes to you. Jose
PCL1029 wrote:Hi,
The swollen abdomen are fluids accumulate due to the bile duct in the liver cannot function normally .the medical term is ascites. It is a simple procedure and It can be relieved by inserting a needle and withdraw the fluids out by a doctor in the hospital up to 20 liters in volume without major side effect. .in addition, the doc will prescribe diuretics like furOsemide and Aldactone to decrease and control the symptoms.
GEMOX+cetuximab is a powerful chemo that combined two chemo agents and the newer anti-cancer agent call molecularly targeted agent (cetuximab).
The good thing is your sister is young so she can tolerate the combo treatment better than others. You should expect her to develope skin rashes ,but this is actually an indication of the drug is working well.Try to read more about this treatment combo under our discussion forum title “Chemotherapy”; to learn more about it.
If have questions,please feel free to ask us.
God bless.Thank you very much. This information is really useful. I don’t understand why doctors did not use a needle to reduce her tummy. This swallon abdomen is affecting her psychology, thinking that she is worse.
Lainy wrote:Jose, you have done and are doing all the right things. Please don’t listen to “life expectency” as we were not born with expiration dates on the bottom of our feet. We have MANY here who have out lived what the Doctors predicted. I alway say we try to remain optimistically realistic. Please keep us updated as we truly care.Thanks a lot for your support this discussion board is really helping me a lot.
Dear PCL1029
Thank you very much for your reply. My sister has received just one dosage (or “cicle”) of GEMOX ( Gdmcitabina + Oxaliplatino ). Doctors are considering to try another component called CETUXIMAB.
Your post has really really helped us to feel better. We are now expecting the results of her first chemotherapy. Its suppouse she will take the second next week. She is fine with secundary effects but what worries me is that she has a swollen abdomen. I know this is as a result of a disfunction in her liver and I wonder to what extend chemotherapy might help to reduce it.
Thanks for you help
JoseThank you very much for your quick reply. It was touching, to be honest, to know that there are people here that could support and understand us in this horrible hell that we are going through. At first she was diagnosed in the National Health. We contacted to Anderson Clinic in Madrid sending them the information (they did not see her but just check all records, tests, etc that she had taken in the hospital). They considered that palliative treatment was the only option. We sent her to Clinica Universitaria de Navarra, which seems to be a very reputed clinic in cancer treatment in Spain. They said that operation is not possible. She received already one quemo session. Doctor even told us a life expectancy of 6 months or 1 year. She does not know the total truth. We think that being positive with her might help. Other cases of patients with short life expectancy finally lived longer. I’d like to read here cases that might give us hope altough we know that her situation is critical but I cannot just think that this is the end and there is nothing we can do. I think: ok, lets imagine that quemo reduces tumor masses; lets imagine that radio is feasible… at least to keep thetumor under control for a longer period…Also we heard about a person with a metastasis cholangiocarcioma in Madrid who was operated and survived… hope, hope, we need hope. Thank you,
