mparsons
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Hi Patti,
I wish you both the very best as you go through this surgery. From my own experience with two extensive surgeries, I think your husband might do better with the epidural. It would control the pain more consistently and hopefully would also be easier to tolerate. By the time they removed mine a number of days after surgery, I needed very little additional pain meds.
Best, Mark
Following up on Amangeloff’s post, including those she mentioned, there are a number of other excellent physicians at the University of Southern California who are highly experienced with this disease.
After UCLA had deemed me inoperable and put me on palliative care, we went to Dr. Rick Selby who heads the hepatobiliary surgery and abdominal organ transplant divisions at USC. I came to him very sick. I had an advanced Klatskin tumor, with multiple tumors in the liver, and several large lymphatic masses. In a first surgery of 12 hours, he did an open cholecystectomy, central liver resection, partial hepatectomy, abdominal lymphadenectomy, and radical bile duct excision with a hepaticojejunostomy. In a second surgery, he did a left hepatic lobe resection. At this point and time, I am tumor free and healthy, something we couldn’t imagine six months ago. Needless to say, Dr. Selby is our family hero.
For adjuvant therapy Dr. Selby referred me to Heinz-Josef Lenz, an oncologist at USC. Lenz has been mentioned numerous times on this site as someone with extensive experience with CC who is also on the leading edge of current research. His nurse practitioner, Taline Khoukaz deserves separate mention. She is simply exceptional. I am currently receiving chemotherapy and radiation under their care.
Bottom line: we feel we have been exceedingly well cared for at USC.
