sophie

Hey, I might as well add my (ahem) voluptuous structure. I have always been really really overweight but quite active. I had a CAT scan in late 2005 and it was normal. Then the CAT scan in early March 2008 showed cc on 75% of my liver. Who knows when it started growing after the 2005 CAT scan so I don’t know if it’s fast or slow. Since April 2008 I have lost 50 pounds. The past 7 or 8 weeks I have maintained ..up a pound…down a pound.

Prayers for you all,
Sophie

Dear Wests, so sorry for you and your family.

I started out with the nausea too which finally forced me to go to the doctor. My labwork was good but was eventually diagnosed with cc. City of Hope did a portal vein embolization on me with the intention of getting my left lobe to regenerate and then doing a resection. Unfortunately they couldn’t do the resection, but I do believe the portal vein embolization eliminated the nausea and kept me from being jaundiced. In addition, the doctor did say it might have caused the tumor to shrink a bit. I have a large tumor..over eleven cms. The oncologist needs to refer your loved one to a good liver surgeon. There might be options out there for you..take her home; we can’t do anything is not an option with this initial diagnosis.

Best wishes and prayers

Sophie

Belle,

I am heartbroken for the grief your family shares because of your sister’s cancer. May God wrap his arms around all of you and give you some comfort. I pray that your sister’s suffering eases.

Sophie

Dear Carol,

Your post just absolutely broke my heart because I can so empathize with you. It just beats one down to fight the insurance company when one is already struggling with so much. I don’t think Charlie is alone when at a really down point the thought of the family being better off without him surfaces. I believe it hits us all, but when he looks at your face, Carol, and the faces of his children and realizes how much you all love him and need him, hopefully it will give him heart to shake his fist at this horrible disease.

I pray God wraps his arms around your family and comforts you and that there is a turn for the better..that something happens to buoy you and Charlie up.

My prayers for you, Carol and Charlie

Sophie

Thank you Jeff and Marion,

I will see the oncologist, Jeff, and I just typed a list of some of your suggestions as questions for the surgeon when he calls. I am praying he will call before I go to my oncologist on Monday.

I also found out how to get all my scans from City of Hope so I’ll do that in the morning.
For me, I need to be more positive like all of you. I am so emotional that all I do is cry, and I know that isn’t good. I have always been a person who cries easily, but the past 5 months that’s all I do. I keep thinking, “where do these people get their strength and their joy in each day?” I want that, but I can’t seem to get it. I live by myself with no family around here. My niece is 500 miles away, and my daughter 200 miles away. Both have been wonderful about being with me whenever they can, but they don’t have the option to drop everything and move in with me. They have been wonderful about getting down here as much as they have. I know I feel sorry for myself too much and make excuses. Thank you for propping me up, you guys. Were you guys always so positive from the beginning? Do you think I can get to the point where I can laugh and enjoy my day? I want to laugh again instead of staring blankly at people. I’m sorry. I’m starting to vent now, and this certainly isn’t what people new to the site need to see. I won’t do it again.

My love and prayers to all of you,
Sophie

Hello Irene,

Before I went to the doctor I was nauseous and felt bloated. There wasn’t much I could eat, and this lasted about 2 months. The labwork came back great, and my liver enzymes were just fine; however, doctor did order a CAT scan which showed cancer in liver. I had a PET Scan and a biopsy. The biopsy pretty much confirms cancer, and my pathology was sent to at least 3 hospitals before cc was diagnosed. How big is your tumor? That might explain why you have no symptoms. This may have been caught very very early. Are you being treated by your general practitioner or have you gone to a comprehensive cancer hospital? My liver specialist said my best option was the portal vein embolization which is what your doctor wants for you. As you said, that shuts down the blood supply in one lobe or part of the liver and hopefully the other part will regenerate. It can regenerate as fast as 2 weeks. I do know the liver regenerates fairly speedily. When you have this done, you will be heavily sedated, but you must be able to respond to any questions asked by the radiologist so you won’t be “out”. For me, after it was done, I didn’t suffer any pain from it or notice anything different as far as shutting down the blood flow to the liver. The portal vein embolization caused no problems for me. Both the surgeon and oncologist wanted me to have chemo and wanted to give the liver about 3 months to regenerate. My tumor is very large though so that’s why I had to have chemo. At this point, I am scheduled for a liver resection July 7th. Both of us are fortunate we have the option to have liver resection because that is supposed to be the gold standard. As for what you can do after the portal vein embolization, if you have no symptoms, you can go on and live just like you do now and get done whatever you want. I had to take a medical leave because I taught junior high and my anxiety and physical symptoms made it far too stressful to continue. My prayers are with you, Irene.
Sophie