peggyp

Hi Susie,

Sounds like a good report to me. Sit back, relax and make that trip happen! You deserve it. Hugs, PeggyP

Dear Bkat,

I am sending many prayers to you and your family. I am so sorry to hear of your dad’s passing. Hold on to all your good memories with him and may you find peace at this most difficult time. God Bless each of you, PeggyP

Dear Bob,

My husband has Stage IV ICC. He had a resection in August ’08 and then multiple tumors appeared in March ’09. He has been treated with Fulfox, Gem/Cis and Xeloda. He was also getting Avastin along with these. He was tested to see if he would qualify for radioembolization but he had too much leakage into his stomach cavity. We went Thursday for him to be treated using chemoembolization. His main side effects have been stomachache, flu-like symptoms, headache and weakness. While in the hospital, his blood pressure spiked and he threw up several times on Friday. The doctors seemed to be pleased with the procedure and said they targeted the two largest tumors on one side and that there is another large one they may want to try once he has an MRI in a month to see how effective the procedure was for him. Try whatever is out there for Sheila and keep asking questions. Knowledge is power. Wishing the best for both of you, PeggyP

Hi Tiff,

My husband was on Gem/Cis but had to stop it in October because his remaining kidney was being affected by this combo. Other than low counts and fatique, he didn’t have any other side effects. He took it for 8 months. PeggyP

Dear Sharon,

I am so sorry to hear about your Mom. Take comfort in knowing that you did everything a daughter could when your Mom needed you the most. She will still be with you in your heart; but now she can finally be at peace. Sending my sincere condolences to you and your family, PeggyP

Andie,

I will keep you and your mom in my prayers, and I hope that you can remember the good times with your dad today, and not focus on the illness that took him from you. Love, PeggyP

Hi Percy,

John was taking the Xeloda twice a day, also. He would take it in the morning and then close to bedtime. He was on a nine day cycle, then off five. He was getting the Avastin every 14 days. He hasn’t had anything since the first of the year because they didn’t want him to take anything until he was tested to see if he would be a candidate for the theraspheres. I guess after he has the chemoembolization on Thursday, we will find out our next step. Maria sent me a message saying that she didn’t have any real side effects. either. She also said that her tumors shrank a great deal and some can’t even be seen now. That’s good news to my ears. Hope you are doing well, PeggyP

Rachel,

John was not diagnosed until after his surgery. He was operated on at the University of Virginia by Dr. Reid Adams. He had a pain in his right side over the July 4th weekend of 2008. He kept saying the pain would not go away so I told him to call his doctor when he went to work on Thursday because I thought he might have a kidney stone. His doctor sent him for a CT scan because she thought it might be a kidney stone, too. When she called him that afternoon, she told him it wasn’t a kidney stone but a huge mass in his liver. After a whirlwind of three weeks of scans and tests, he was operated on at UVA. Dr. Adams called me from the operating room to say that the surgery was more than what he had anticipated. They were going to have to remove John’s right kidney, over 70 percent of his liver. part of his colon, gallbladder, and part of his stomach cavity. I told him to do whatever he had to do; it was a 10-hour surgery. Dr. Adams felt sure that he had gotten everything. We had been told that chemo or radiation were not options. When John went for his 4-month scans, spots showed up on the part of the liver that had not been removed. The doctors chose to wait until the next scan before doing anything. By his next scans, he had multiple tumors. I don’t think John’s oncologist had ever treated this cancer before and I am not sure if Dr. Adams had ever operated on anyone who had CC. His diagnosis came from his pathology reports. John started on chemo in March ’09 and has been treated with three chemo cocktails. I asked his oncologist from the beginning about other cancer centers but he kept saying that he could get the information from other doctors to treat John. I wish now that we had gone to somewhere like John Hopkins from the beginning as I hear good things about them. John’s options are running out now and his tumors are still growing. He will be having a procedure this coming week at UVA where they will shoot the chemo directly into the tumors with hopes of shrinking them. They had wanted to do the Y90 theraspheres but John was not a candidate for that. Your son is too young to give up hope; John was 55 when he was diagnosed and we are raising two of our grandchildren. I believe that his positive attitude and his focus on the kids have helped keep him going. Do the doctors know what is causing your son to be so sick? What meds is he taking? I know John got deathly ill when they gave him vicodin. Oh, John’s tumor was the size of a softball and he had never been sick. I know each case is different but if your son heard some of the success stories, he might change his mind about further treatment. We know that John is terminal, but we have already been given more time than anyone expected and his oncologist continues to be amazed that he is still here. So we will continue to pursue whatever we can for as long as we can. Sending blessings your way, PeggyP