marywhodat
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Margaret,
I’m so sorry to hear what you’ve been through. My heart goes out to you and your family. I can relate, as my husband, John, is 54 and officially diagnosed on November 1. We also have young children – 9 year old twin boys. We are currently exploring all treatment options, clutching onto any ray of hope we can find. This disease is so terrible and so quick, it does make your head spin.
I just wanted to welcome you to the site and add my support and love to that of the wonderful people here. Feel free to email me if you’d like to talk.
Mary
Update – John was scheduled to start chemo and radiation at Duke last week, but we put it off in order to travel to MD Anderson for a second opinion. We are currently in the MDA waiting room, waiting to be seen.
Dr. Chapman talked to our oncologist and said even though Duke and Mayo Rochester would not consider John as a candidate for liver transplant because his tumor is too large, Dr. Chapman would consider him. He recommended a biopsy of John’s enlarged lymph nodes, and if they are clear, proceed with chemo and radiation under Dr. Chapman’s protocol, followed by evaluation for transplant. We will do the biopsy as soon as we get home.
That’s the update…fingers crossed!
Hi PCL1029
The hematologist I work for is not a liver surgeon. He referred us to a surgeon, though. The tumor is at the common bile duct where the 2 branches converge. The portal vein is not infiltrated, but the tumor is causing some displacement.
Hi Jason,
I did ask about that, and she said that gem/cis is generally used for metastatic disease. She said 5-FU is used for local advanced CC to make the cancer more susceptible to radiation (so they can use a lower dose of radiation.)
Mary
Hi Dakotabeann,
I am new here and have not yet posted an introduction, but I wanted to let you know that, based on some postings I read here, I called Dr. Chapman’s office and mentioned that I saw him listed on the advisory board for this site. They said he would provide a second opinion at no charge. I would just need to send the medical records and images on disc via FedEx and he and his team would review them for me and provide their assessment.
I am planning to do this as soon as we have liver biopsy results.
Hope this helps.
Mary
