marylloyd
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Seasheller(Jean),
My husband has had many ERCP procedures, mainly to place stents. I’m surprised your husband needs his ducts opened if he isn’t showing signs of jaunduce.Is his bilirubin high? Anyway the procedure is usually done on an outpatient basis and is tolerated very well. The only problem my husband has had is infection and elevated enzymes. They say sometimes when they go in there they” stir things up” and that’s what causes both problems. They usually give him antibiotics. He is going in for a stent change a week from Mon. and I’m going to call ahead and see if he needs antibiotics since they haven’t prescribed them yet. I always worry that they will say they can’t get the stents in because the tumor is blocking the duct. Originally they could only insert one but now since his radiation treatments they haven’t had any problem at all. I am going to ask if they are able to see anything when they go in also. We never hear whether that is possible or not and it would be nice to know if anything is visible. All of this is such a worry. When you read of so many people succumbing so quickly it really tears you up and makes you realize how quickly things can “go south” as my husband says! I hope your husband continues to fight on and do well. I am sorry for all of you above that have lost your loved ones. I pray for your peace and comfort! MaryKate,
I am so sorry that you lost your mum. She sounded like a wonderful, fun loving person. I hope you will continue to be able to laugh along with your tears when thinking of her. It sounds like a healthy way to grieve. Just know we are all thinking of you and wishing you peace and comfort. God bless. MaryHi Jeff,
I just read your post so I guess your wife is home safe and sound now. Yes I feed my husband a lot of spinach! Our usual evening meal is his 16 oz. of carrot juice and a big bowl of spinach or broccoli. We eat a bigger lunch so that is really all he wants. He’s actually fighting to not gain weight back. We just planted our garden over the weekend so hopefully we’ll have our own fresh veggies soon! We’re enjoying the nice weather after 2 1/2 weeks of below normal temps. We have a little greenhouse business so I’m hoping we can start making a little money- it seems like all we do is spend it! Take care and keep planting those flowers!! I wish I could give you some. My husband got sick in June last year and we walked away from our business and we threw away flat after flat of dead plants this year when we cleaned out our houses. Very depressing! I’m glad I was able to drop everything though and be with him all the time that he needed me last year. Have a great day and start eating that spinach!! MaryHi Kris,
I think the tingling is good news!! I’m glad your husband thinks so to! Something’s happening to those cancer cells! I hope the next scans prove that to be the case.We’ll be back to Columbus on May 7. My husband has to have his stent(s?) changed. I wish he could have them removed permanently. Does your husband have stents? Let us know how his scans go and continue to stay positive. Take care. MaryJeff,
What is the difference between HCC and Adenocarcinoma as far as the biopsy. I don’t understand all the different classifications etc. They have never even given us a stage for my husband but I guess I don’t really care. As lonfgas he’s doing well. They said on his pathology report that it was adenocarcinoma with non-specific origin. What does that mean to you? Thanks Jeff and continue to be well! You are in my prayers! MaryYoungestson,
I agree with Jeff. My father-in-law was given chemo at age 85 ( my husband and I were unaware that it was happening or we would have tried to prevent it) and it killed him in less than 3 days. It completely wiped out his frail immune system. Chemo is terribly hard on youger, stronger people and sometimes you have to really think about whether it is going to do more harm than good. Ecspecially with CC where they say there is no chance for cure with chemo. I love Jeff’s story about the woman who went all those years, I just hope that will happen with your mother and my husband. He is doing very well with diet and supplements. He has never had very much chemo, only along with his radiation treatments and it will be a hard decision to make whether he ever should if they decide that it would be necessary down the road. Quality of life is very important and obviously chemo can not really guarantee you quantity.Please weigh your options and make sure your mother understands the side effects of chemo. It really is her decision but at least you will all be informed. Take care and God Bless! MaryCeloi,
I think your father’s case is much like my husbands. We are lucky because I think they probably have the slower growing and late to metastasis kind of CC.Just being stable ia a relief ! Your Dad is doing well and so is my husband with supplements and exercise etc. He is not on chemo now but if anything pops up they will probably put him on Xeloda and Gemzar also. Best of luck to you and your Dad. You are right and so is Jeff that you have to read and be informed so you can be an advocate and ask lots of questions! Take care. MaryHi Kris,
Good to hear from you. Sorry your husband and you had such a hard time. At least he is able to get out and have fun and do normal things. That’s a blessing. My husband took Xeloda for 5 weeks straight Mon-Fri while he was getting radiation treatments. He was taking 3600 mg per day which I thought was a lot too. He really seemed to tolerate it alright though. I hope your husband can stay in the trial and get positive results when he has his next scan. My husband’s last MRI was the same. No visible tumor so we are free until the first of June when he will get his next one. My prayers are with you and your family. I really believe your husband is going to do well!! Take care and God Bless. MaryHi Michelle,
So sorry about your Dad. My husband is doing great.We have a small greenhouse business and he has been outworking me! That doesn’t say much for me I guess since I’m 9 years younger and don’t have cancer, but it definitely says a lot about him!! I have been reading so much here about people succumbing to this due to infections and it has made me so grateful that my husband was able to fight through the ones he had last fall. He really could have died from some of the problems that he had and it really wouldn’t have been the cancer itself but the blood infection after surgery, the abscess problem and stent infections that could have done him in. BUT they DIDN’T and that’s what you have to remember. He has been on antibiotics at least 5 times now since June, both oral and IV and they have always brought the infections under control. He hd a fever once as high as your Dad’s 2 weeks after his surgery and I rushed him to the hospital 120 miles away from our house. I don’t even fool around taking him to our local hospitals- I load him in the car and we head for Columbus! I tend to forget how stressful those times were because it seems like years ago but we all get through them! Just make sure that you are insistent about them draining the abscess ASAP. They kept treating my husband with Zofran because he was puking HUGE amounts about an hour after he would try to eat and we kept telling them that there was something very wrong. It seemed like NOTHING was going through. They finally did a cat scan after we got a hold of his surgeon and he was admitted and they discovered the abscess was closing off his intestine. Of course he hardly ate for weeks and kept losing weight and strength but after they drained the abscess he was much, much better and he didn’t have any pain either. I really suspect that is the cause of your Dad’s problem. Please be sure that they get on it immediately!! Anyway, sorry to ramble but I get to thinking about the hell we’ve been through and I hate to see others going through it too. Just know that it IS possible to get through it and for your Dad to recover and feel well again!! Please keep in touch. My prayers are with you! MaryDear Father’s Daughter,
I’m sorry you are having to go through all of this. I don’t know how old you are or what your situation is but I hope you and your Dad have more support. This is too much for you to handle on your own! You Dad is lucky to have you and I’m sure he appreciates all of the love and care you are giving him.
As far as radiation I think my husband is one of the few on this site that I have read about that received it as a first treatment ahead of chemo but after an unsuccessful attempt at surgery.He had 5 weeks of IMRT radiation which is a very focused beam. It is much less destructive than the old type because they guide it with cat scans so they can get it as directly on the tumor as possible. He took Xeloda by mouth during that 5 week period. They then gave him a month to rest and he had brachytherapy. They inserted 2 catheters(drains) into each bile duct(from the outside), they then inserted wires with hi-dose radiation on them. They left those in place for a few minutes and did it three times. He had to be in the hospital fo that procedure. The brachytherapy was kind of tough because of the pain from the drains but he really had few side effects from the radiation or xeloda. All I can say now is that since his treatment they have not been able to see anything on any of his scans. They honestly think the cancer has died. I don’t know whether this is a fluke or if it does happen with others but I would definetely tell your Dad to try. My husband has had this ( intrahepatic klatskinn tumor) for 9 months and he feels better than he has for years.You must eat a healthy diet and do all you can to promote liver health. There will be some damage caused by the radiation but as our physician said , scar tissue is better than cancer! You can read my other posts here. I list the foods, supplements etc. that my husband takes and more about his treatment. There is a ton of info here on this site. Just read as much as you can so you can ask the Docs informed questions. Feel free to call on any of us for help. There are great, knowledgeable people on this site. Best wishes!! MaryHi Michelle,
I’m sorry to hear of your father’s ordeal. I really hope he doesn’t give up. My husband had his entire left side of his liver die from the obstruction in his ducts. It did reabsorb into his system eventually but he had an abscess form from the dead tissue that had to be drained. He actually had it obstruct his bowel for several weeks before they figured out it was an abscess and drained it. I’m just telling you this so you can be aware of that possibility and keep on top of it. My husband went through some rough times too while he was dealing with drains and sickness etc. but he has come through feeling great now so try to keep your chin up. There have been a lot of sleepless nights and tears for us too but there is always hope! I really pray that they will be able to do the surgery. You must convince your Dad to work to get his strength back and build up his immune system. That is really the most important thing for him to do now. I did a lot of research on foods and enzymes etc that help repair the liver knowing that my husband suffered damage from the original obstruction and then radiation. That is something you must do on your own because the Docs don’t really believe in all of that too much. They aren’t necessarily negative they just don’t teach nutrition etc as a treatment or cure.. I know you have done a lot of research on nutrition but concentrate on liver health in particular not just anti- carcinogenic. Keeping what is left of his liver healthy is vitally important! Keep in touch Michelle and best wishes for your Dad and family! Take care, MaryHi Sarah,
My father was diagnosed with prostate cancer in June 06 also. He had a very high PSA and started eating jalapeno peppers every day. When his PSA was checked in Sept. it had dropped drastically! I can’t remember the numbers exactly but everyone was shocked. I don’t think DRs. give foods enough credit for at least helping control disease. My husband lost 60 pounds during his treatments.He is now back to a healthy 220.He looks and feels better than he has for years. We don’t stick to a real strict vegetarian diet. We do eat meat but not nearly what we did in the past. I actually restrict his dairy intake because I have read that it can produce mucous buildup that could cause stent clogging.Just skim milk and lo-fat cheese occasionally. Read about the mushrooms. They are being researched at Sloan-Kettering now. They have been used for years in Japan to help fight the effects of chemo and to enhance the immune system. I really believe they have helped and the milk thidtle has helped with his liver function. You can read my husband’s history here. His treatment has been quite different than most on this site. We are very pleased so far! Best Wishes. MaryTed,
I think diet is very important. My husband also drinks fresh carrot juice- I tried adding beets but he got sick and gagged every time I added them so he takes beet root extract. He also takes Maitake Mushroom pills, Milk Thistle and Fish Oil capsules for Omega 3. I give him a very limited amount of meat products and very little or no sugar. Lots of vegetables, whole grains and fruits and like you said, exercise. We don’t have a lot of sun right now but he gets lots when he can!! Good luck!!I hope Patty has great success with this program. MaryHi to all of you above,
Were there actually tumors found in the shoulder blade areas? My husband has had pain in his shoulder for several months- they did an x-ray and it was normal so they are assuming it is tendonitis. I still am worried though since so many people here have had the same thing. MaryHello Ted,
My husband had an unsuccessful surgery to remove a klatskin tumor in July ’06. He took Xeloda for 5 weeks and had radiation treatments followed by brachytherapy with great success. His tumor shrunk to the point that they can no longer see it on cat scans or MRI. Klatskins are supposedly slow growing and slow to metastasis so I would consider the chemo or other options. I don’t know anything about IP-6 but I would explore all options. Best wishes! Mary
