middlesister1

Caligirl,

Good luck and I hope the consult goes well. For my mother, they opened her up and because of the location of her tumor and how it extended, they closed her back up and did not proceed further. Instead, we went through chemo and then Y-90 radiation. In hindsight, what made the chemo more difficult was that she was not fully recovered from the surgery when it started. Also, although they didn’t remove the tumor, the aborted surgery still left her with adhesions that can be very painful at times. Although surgery is the words all CC strive to hear, she would have had it easier if we went straight to chemo and radiation. The good news, is that its been over 2 years since her last treatment and she has No Evidence of Disease.

Best Wishes,
Catherine

Dear Gail,

Welcome to our group. With 3 children and a job with 50% travel, you must already have a knack for juggling a busy life. However, I agree with Lainy that you should ask for help and it seems like you are already on a good path of taking care of yourself as well. In addition to the husband and kids (or maybe cause of) you need to keep yourself as well (emotionally and physically).

Although not enough hope, there are some good new stories here. Have they done genetic testing on the tumors? And, it may be worth asking your doctor is there are pain meds which do not affect is lucidity as much. When I was researching for my parents, I found that in some cases fentanyl patches can be given instead of morphine with less cognitive impact to the patient.

My thoughts are with you and your family.

catherine

Dear Tim and Julie,

It is always heartbreaking when we hear of a loss, but especially so when it is a younger patient.

My heartfelt condolences are with your family and loved ones.

Catherine

Hi,

Mom had the Y90 for a single IC tumor (all mets were localized to liver). She first did 3 cycles of Gem/Cis. Good news is that she is over 3 years since diagnosis, couldn’t have surgery, but is feeling fine and No Evidence of Disease(NED). She was treated at University if MD (Greene Cancer Center).

Best wishes,
Catherine

Dear Katherine,

I’m easing back into the board this evening and was so sorry that I didn’t see this sooner, but so thrilled to read about your upcoming surgery. Some are fortunate to be operated on right away, but you went through the hardships of chemo too.

The apprehension is real, but not sure if I would use the term insane. I can not pretend to understand the apprehension, but I can say that even as just a family member, I have been faced with my own mortality over the past few years- so actually maybe as the patient the term insane does make sense.

My love and hugs are with you for a successful surgery and a quick recovery,

Catherine

Joe-

I’ve been MIA for a while. but came back and very happy to hear your Mom is doing well. best wishes to you and Mom,
Catherine

Mary,

Thank you for joining the board and so happy you got to the conference. My Mom is NED thanks to radiation treatment at UMD, but if it returns, we’ll be heading to JHU for a second opinion (we’re in Bel Air). Very interesting on your surgery- our approach was to kill the left lobe (and the tumor) with radiation since she wasn’t resectable.

We look forward to hearing more milestones in your continued success !

Catherine