pcl1029

Hi,

I know Chinese herbal medications a little bit; but I don’t know much about Kudzu root; If you want to go the natural route for diarrhea; Huang Qin tan soup in Chinese herbal soup/medication may be of benefit to “calm the stomach”. the formula have been used for thousands years in far east countries.
You can find the discussion under Complimentary and alternative medicine on this message board..
For Diarrhea treatment in the western medicine culture;, Bismuth subsalicylate (Pepto-Bismol), Lomotil, Imodium, and Octreotide(off label use) are among the choices.
God bless.

Hi, Angie,

Even you are joining us here the 1st time now and may be the final time ,but you are appreciated by your courage to do so.
I am sorry for your father’s disease suffering and emotional toll upon you and others who are caregivers to the patient.
Sometimes I do not understand a lot of emotional related questions that I had asked myself ;deep down I like most of you,even I am alive,I am still scare about the final journey of this disease. I may be looking strong now, but I may be worst at the end of the journey. Even I try to be positive and to find a better drug or regimen to less the suffering of all of us; In reality a miracle cure is still a long way to go and may only extend the disease free period for a relatively long time in months instead of years like the new drug approved by FDA,the TDM-1 for the breast cancer patient yesterday.

But my point is, letting go like the above member suggested may be one of the best solution for both the patient and caregiver at the end stage of this disease. It is quality over quantity of life for the patient as well as for the caregivers. So do not feel sorry for yourself and your dad.

With deep sympathy, as a patient now and a caregiver before; may I wish you peace and comfort during the rest of the journey knowing that as a faithful daughter, with God’s help, you have tried your best, and for that, your heart and mind will be at peace with the outcome.
God bless.

Hi,
Why northwestern in Chicago? John Hopkins is a good choice for getting a complete picture on your mom’s current disease situation. Northwestern is famous in its interventional radiology treatment such as radioembolization but I will not choose radioembo for patient over 65 due to poor experiences on this message board at this point.( I am only a patient and not a doctor.)
If you live in Chicago, for chemotherapy consult, University of Chicago may be another place to go to. Base on the short description above, it looks like systemic chemotherapy is the only choice for tumor which had metastasized to other parts of the body.
Lainy’s suggestion above also holds true as well with regard to quality of life over quantity of life.
God bless.

Hi, Suzy,
I am sure you have made the right decision. Good luck on both surgery and recovery.

Lainy,if I can crack you up with a smile, I will do it all the time. I hope everything is going your way.

God bless.

Hi,
It is the ammonia level build up that cause the patient being confused and sleepy.
and if I may say so, this will be the most peaceful way to go both for the sick and the people who surrounding the patient.
Usually will not be long but each case is different.
I will pray for a peaceful outcome for you.
God bless.

Hi,
all I can say about Dr. Finn is that he is either very experienced or otherwise.
the best person that can tell whether RFA is possible and safe is the interventional radiologist. every medical professional have special expertise in the field they practice;otherwise we can just go to our GP and get everything done.
BTW, Ask your Dad or mom to cook some “eight precious soup” and put a piece chicken without skin and fat in it. take it a couple time a week and all of you can drink it too.
Eat less red meat; consume more vegetable and fruit and keep hydrated all the time.(6-8glass of 8oz of liquid). and remember, do not spend money on the quick fix like purchase herbs or medication from mainland china with unproved claims.. spend more time on the research of western medicine instead.
God bless.

Hi,
If I were you,I will question the radiologist who looked at the CT scan and written the report of finding nothing. I don ‘t know about size of the lesion since you didnot mentioned. But if it is > 1cm, the CT scan should pick up the image.
MRCP is a very good and non invasive tool to detect lesions in the biliary system.To my knowledge ,unless the bile ducts are blocked and jaundice has been shown ,there is no need to have ERCP done.MRCP is a much better tool for diagnosis . Did you know where’re the metastasis , if not , ask the oncologist to get a PET scan done and they will tell you where the metastasis and relatively how serious the activities of the spreads and the tumor in the liver.
I agree with you not to get the ERCP done. Get the PET scan done BEFORE starting the chemotherapy . Otherwise it will be a waste of time and money.

May I ask the age of your husband and what is his profession contribute to his high stress level. Would you be ok to travel to California to get 2nd opinions in USC.? Or at least send your husband’s complete medical records including the CT scan disc and MRCP disc to USC TUMOR BOARD for evaluation ASAP. If I were you, and your husband is so weak as you described, not to start chemotherapy until you get result from USC may not be a bad idea for him to gain back some energy as well as quality of life. i suspect the chemotherapy will get your husband sicker if his oncologist just gave him 4 weeks. And if so then what is the point to give him the chemotherapy and make him feel worse.You need to see a liver specialist, ( a GI doctor is not experienced enough to know and treat cholangiocarcinoma). You need at least a team of doctors( often call the tumor board) to make the collective decision for you and it may include doing nothing if quality of life is called for.
To answer your last question, to get to stage VI CCA in. 4 weeks is of course NOT NORMAL. In general, CCA is a relatively a slow growing cancer, and not a fast killer. All I can say is the place where your husband currently get treated may not have the expertise to treat such a rare disease like cholangiocarcinoma.
Good luck and as always, I am just like your husband,a patient and not a doctor.
God bless.