pcl1029
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hi,
pet scan is not absolutely 100% reliable ,you can have false positive result.
CAT scan to follow PET to determine whether there are actual” tumor foci” is very helpful in exclusion of the false positive by PET. Especially the SUVmax ( the brightness of the PET) is not that high.(ie: 4-7).
This is my personal experience and I am a patient of this canner for 3years.
Also 2nd opinion on radiation oncology is highly recommended if there are no mets beyond the liver before choosing chemotherapy.
God bless.Hi,
Age is not a risk factor for having the Whipple procedure if you husband is healthy and no other health issues.
Gallbladder surgery 4 years ago and involvement of distal portion and head of pancrease plus jaundice now are strong possibilities that your surgeon’s decision to have Whipple is correct even there is no final diagnosis.
If the tumor is small or grow along sides of the wall of the bile duct in the distal areas,ERCP or EUS may not pick up the tumor sample enough to confirm the final diagnosis;but atypical cells founding is another hint of the cells in that area of concern are changing which normally is the pre-cursor of things to come.
I am just a patient and not a doctor ;but I agree with your husband and the doctors to go ahead with the Whipple procedure.
2nd surgical opinion is highly recommended
God bless.Hi,
Then said, has your husband been seen by an interventional radiologist for possible radiation treatment options?
God bless.HI,
blood clot is common amoung cancer patients including this CCA, Lovenox twice daily or other low molecular weight heparin deviatives given subcutaneously or taking Coumadin daily by mouth with lab results(a much cheaper option) biweekly or monthly after stable INR is obtained, for life are other options.
The main purpose is to prevent DVT(blood clot in the legs) and pulmonary embolism(PE) which can be fatal .
God bless.Hi,
I am a patient only,not a doctor.
Gemzar mono therapy is one of the treatment used in CCA patients, I was on for 14 months; anyway it may be a good idea to be off cisplatin for a while.
If you are worry about montherapy of Gemzar alone, you can ask your doctor whether to add Xeloda is a good choice. Express your concern to the doctors;showing them what is in your mind. Xeloda is taken by mouth twice a day,very convenient to the patient;of course there are side effects about Xeloda, but compare to cisplatin, it is much tolerable.
God bless.Hi,
I am a patient just like your husband for the last 3 years. I had recurrence about a year ago. It really hurts and I totally understand your helpless feeling, your frustration don’t know what to do and depression of why it is happening.
As a patient, the only thing I know how to handle this is to learn about this disease more and in the darkest moment ,I just kneel down and pray to God for guidance.
For you at this point, I think we can less your burden by helping you in the medical knowledge of this cancer by doing exactly what you did, asking medical questions and emotional support from all of our members, patients as well as caregivers who had traveled this roller coaster ride before.For your husband, get a PET scan prescription from your oncologist today or tomorrow before the biopsy to see whether the lymph nodes are metastasis .
the PET scan will also show how advance of the liver recurrence.But the main point is this, I do not know exactly where your husband’s tumor located;it sounds like (ie: from your description it is more located in the bile ducts (the upper third of the bile duct which closely attached to the liver,) So if the biopsy is by using ERCP brushing procedure, it may be ok but if it is by fine needle biopsy(that is insert a needle to extract specimen from the liver thru the skin),then it may increase the chance of spreading the tumor cells(about 10% chance) which may not be a good idea.
The other thing is that if the PET scan is negative on the lymph nodes;then you will have more options that just systemic chemotherapy. my suggestion is trying to see whether more options can be available to you;but even if not there are still a lot of information that can help your husband in the future.
So if you want to, the steps are as follows:
1. Get a PET scan to check the lymph node .
2. To have the PET scan BEFORE the biopsy unless the procedure they use is ERCP.
3. Relax and hoping for the best.
4. If you like ,you can send the” impression” section of the CAT scan result to me by email thru this message board and I will see what I can do for you.God bless.
Hi,
“The liver numbers looks good “does not mean that your mother will not continue to have fatigue due to the residual and accumulative side effects of 5FU and irinotecan even 6 weeks after the chemotherapy; she may still have low RBC,hemogolubin and HCT(H/H) or simply anemia; or she may be depressed ;depending on her current health status, common sense tells you and me that additional radiation will not be a good idea at this point.It may make your mom feel worse.
But then again,I am only a patient,I am not a doctor,but if I am, I will tell myself to wait for a bit longer,to regain some energy back before starting radiation treatment again if the tumor burden overall remain stable like you said.
God bless.Hi,
another interesting herbs is Astragalus.as always,make sure the “quality of the product” is of the utmost concern.
God bless.
Hi,
Antidepressants like Remeron (mirtazapine) will have the additional benefit of increasing the appetite but required a prescription by the doctor. it comes as 15mg or 30mg tablets.
Compazine 10mg,zofran 4mg or 8 mg ODT tablets for nausea and vomiting.also check the link below.
Hi,
Do you know why your friend is started on such a low dose/m2 of Gemzar?(ie: just about 60% of the normal dose.) Is it because of the bilirulin still high(3.2) or other health issues are involved? How’s his kidney and neurological function in general? Is his blood work ok especially the platelets and WBC ?What is his m2 or height and weight? all this will be the factors in determining the dose of Gemzar and the possibility of using it in combination of cisplatin,oxaliplatin or carboplatin.
Did your friend get 2nd opinion by an interventional radiologist? He can definitely provide you the answer of you questions # 2 and #3. Medical oncologist and/or GI specialist will not automatically send your friend for radiology consultation unless the center of treatment using multidisciplinary approach or you ask for that specifically.
God bless.
