marys-son
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hi Rowena32,
My mom’s CA-19 score started out at 565. It started in her bile ducts that split in the liver and had matasitised to just one lobe of her liver. Here in the States, the Tarceva is an expensive drug. The co-pay runs about $2,900.00 a month until you’re out of the donut hole with medicare. The best of luck to you.
just wanted to share some good news. My mother was diagnosed with this disease back in August of last year and the prognosis wasn’t encouraging at all. Basically they gave her 6 months/year to live. She started on a regiment of gemsidabean (sp?) every other week with an oral chemo drug called Tarceva everyday. Her CA-19 score has been steadily going down. She had a CT scan last week and we met with the OC today and were shockingly thrilled that the tumors had shrunk by about 20% Her CA-19 was down to 24. Thanks to her oc and the grace of God, she’s getting stronger everyday!!
Hey Julie,
My mom was diagnosed with this cancer back in august of 09. Her cancer started in the dile duct that starts in the liver also. My mom’s cancer wasn’t diagnosed until it was in stage 4 and had spread to her liver. It was inoperatable. She’s currently on a regiment of Gemzar every other week and a oral chemo drug (that’s kinda new) called Tarceva. She has to take the Tarceva everyday with specific times as to when she can eat. It seem to be working. We went for a CT scan today to see what the tumors are doing, but her energy level is up and she’s moving more like her old self.
the best of luck to you and the treatments that are used.Hey Tony,
My mom has the same problem with the bloating and gas. I made a post on the nutrition tab if there was something different she could eat that would prevent or reduce the pain and pressure. Jill recommended a pancrease enzyme that would help with digestion. They put my mom on Pancrease mt 20. We’re still seeing if it’s going to work. She’s only been on it for about 3 days now. The pain is gone, but the bloating is still there. We’re hoping that after the drug gets into her system it will reduce some of the pressure as well. God bless and the best of luck to you…….
That’s great news AJ Carman!!!! I’m rooting for your mom. It makes me feel like there’s hope when I hear stories such as yours. I hope the outcome is the same for my mom……
Thanks for the feed back and words of encouragement….. Jill, what kind of emzymes do you take, and how frequent? Mom’s on Pancrease MT 20, she’s figuring out the dosage now…… The instructions are for her to take 2-3 tablets 4 times a day before she eats. She’s got the liking for some noodles in chicken broth I’m going to make for her today……
Thanks again and God bless……….
Wow….. I’m overwhelmed with all the advise, kind words and well wishers!! My mom is 74 and has been in good health up until the beginning of the summer when she started having some blood in her stool and some stomach problems. she went through several test such as colonoscopy, endoscopy, and even swallowed a camera that she pooed back out and they found nothing. Then her doctor ordered a MRI (I think) and they found a spot on her liver. She had a biopsy and it came back what they called adenocarcinoma. My folks live in a small town on the coast of North Carolina and her oncologist, at the beach, suggested a second opinion. She went to The Lineburger cancer center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. That’s when we found out it was cholangiocarcinoma. For the past month, things have been going down hill. She’s weak alot, constantly runs a low grade fever, has trouble with constipation, lots of gas and bloating, no appetite. She’s lost about 25 pounds over the summer. The oncologist in Chapel hill told us it wasn’t operable and it had spread to her liver where there are several tumors. She said it basically comes down to quality of life vs. prolonging her life. It’s scares me to no end thinking that I’m going to have to watch my mom shrivel up to nothing and die. It already seems she’s a human pin cushion. They’re forever taking blood and running test. No one in our family had the guts to ask for the prognosis, but the oncologist said that this cancer isn’t curable and our goal is to just stop or slow down the tumors from growing.
I’m praying her reaction to this Gemcitabine chemo is much like Kris’s and she will regain her energy.
Thanks again for all the support!! As tears flow while writing this I feel fortunate in finding this sight. God bless you all……
