marions

Belle,
Cyberknife (pin-point radiation) has been used successfully with several patients. Until others have a chance to respond to you might want to use the “search” function on top of the site. Simply enter the word “cyberknife”. It will allow you to peruse threads of comments from other members on the board.
Stents have proven to be invaluable however, they have a tendency to clog and also to become infected. Hopefully, your sister will have a reprieve with a longer duration until they become problematic, again.
Hoping and wishing for the absolute best,
Marions

Tanoland,
you are so right as most if not all of us never had never heard of CC before it touched our life. We had to learn “fast” just as you are having to do. Best wishes and hopeful thoughts coming your way.
Marions

For most of us, at one time or another, the issue of chemotherapy comes under debate, and so it should given the disease progression, and subsequent, possible need for intervention.
While battling this cancer with my husband it was the oncologists, surgeons, and other attending physicians who consistently agreed/disagreed with the approach of the other, each presenting a logical argument based on their personal experience with CC and the clinical data available. We took in account their opinions, compared it with our findings, discussed it within the family, and ultimately allowed my husband to choose the direction of his treatment. Unfortunately, not in all instances is the patient able or, capable of doing so thereby placing us caretakers in the position of making a decision on their behalf. It is a tough spot to be in as we want to do the absolute best for the people we love and yet, if ultimately our decision does not reward us with the desired results we are left with self doubt and possible blame resulting in feeling as having failed the ones we love so much.
I have learned and come to grips with the fact that although, my husband choose to continue to demand chemotherapy in spite of the apparent negative response that it was his way of exulting some control over his illness and thereby ultimately choosing his way of battling this disease. Personally, I came to understand the fact that decisions made by my husband or myself have resulted in both, positive and negative outcomes however, those decisions derived from the absolute best of intentions and were meant to achieve a common goal that being a cure or, a possible reprieve from this cancer. Certainly, in retrospect occasionally, some doubts will creep in to my mind however, what we should have done or possibly could have done instead truly, is left to the imagination as we simply do not know the outcome of other approaches, and we will never know.

Just wanted to share this with you.
Marions

Linda,
The question of chemotherapy post-resection has been pondered before by other members on this board, and I believe it to be a personal decision. Certainly, I would continue to inform myself about the pros and cons of a follow-up treatment. Ultimately, when presented with the information your Dad will be able to choose one direction over the other. I believe his 1B staging in addition to no lymph node involvement and his tumor markers showing to be in the

Tanoland,
my heart goes out to you and your family. Hopefully, the chemo will work for your sister as it has been beneficial to many others.
Wishing for the best,
Marions

So sorry to be hearing about your Mom and her battle with this cancer.
Possibly, you can explain to your parents that more opinions are mandatory when dealing with this cancer as it is still considered to be rare in comparison to other diseases, and that treatment protocols vary from patient to patient. Definitely, this cancer warrants you to be pro-active. Possibly, other members can forward names of physicians located in your area who have treated CC patients in the past although, I believe for the Cleveland clinic to be a good place to start.
Collecting all medical records including, scans, doctor

Patrice,
thanks so much for putting this out there…..Sending tons of love and hopeful thoughts ….
Marions