latenightalumnus
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Haven’t posted in a while, but I lost my dad on Sunday, the Fifth. After his second session of chemo, he had swelling which meant that his kidneys were damaged. His blood pressure was low so he could not continue with chemo. At that point, they had wanted to try Gemzar to slow the growth but his blood pressure was still too low.
He decided hospice was right for him. The swelling eventually went down and we helped him as much as we could be comfortable and loved. We also tried alternative treatments but in the end he lost his battle. I think back now that if he didn’t have the chemo, perhaps we would have stayed with us longer. If we had the funds, we could have sought out different opinion and treatment in the U.K.
Anyway, keep fighting until the end. I wish you all the best.
Wyatt
Lainy wrote:Dear Wyatt, welcome to the best place to be for CC support and I know you will love our remarkable family. The best suggestion I can make is to get another opinion asap. You want to make sure you are at a very experienced hospital and with a very experienced Oncologist and we are big believers in 2nd and 3rd opinions. Not far from you is Mayo Clinic in Rochester and they are extremely experienced with this rare cancer.
It sounds like his stents may be infected or clogged as that is what causes the jaundice. My husband had to have his stents changed about every 6 weeks. It could be the jaundice that is making your Dad so ill. We have had patients at Stage IV and chemo brought the tumor down in size, was chemo ruled out?
I would check with the ONC about chemo and a change of stents. And please check in to another opinion. Below is a sight you may find helpful:http://cholangiocarcinoma.org/newly-dx/
All of your feelings are unfortunately normal under the circumstances and You never know how strong you are until “strong” is the only choice you have! Please keep us updated on how Dad is doing and be very strong.
Thank you. The doctor did check the stents and they were open. It’s the drainage from the mini-ducts that affecting him. Chemo is his only option. Mi have a sister who does work for the Mayo so I am trying to encourage my family to get a second opinion.
