We Cant Let It Beat Us.

my dad was diagnosed with colon cancer to start off with but when they were running tests for his colon they also found that it had also spread to his liver. he had surgary to remove the cancer from his colon and it has been nearly 3 years since this opp and the cancer from this colon has not returned. but the liver that is another story. it was too dangerous to opp on his liver as the tumour was on top of vital veins. he received chemotherapy and the cancer strank from 4cm to less than half a cm. the doctors decided to opp on him again to remove the cancer once and for all hoping for the same results they got from his colon surgary. althought the cancer was removed during the opp my dads bile ducts were damaged and he became jaundice, this left him very weak. it took 4 months of treatment and finally a correction surgary to fix this problem but at the end my dad gained his strenght and was cancer free for months. but unfortunally althought he had regular check up the cancer in the liver returned it had grown to 7cm with in 2 months (very very fast). he again received chemo and at the moment the cancer is 3cm in size but is not active. dad is too weak to receive any more chemo for the moment but the doctors want to go back on it as my dad responds well to it. 

my dad is very weak at the moment and very very unhappy. beating the disease once but for it to come back effected my dads psychological well being very badlly. but we've done it once and i know that we will do it again.

some people on the site ask whether chemo works on the liver. my answer to this is that yes it does maybe not aswell as it may on other organs but it does work. so dont lose hope.

after 3 yeas with the disease we now know that crying, and praying does not beat cancer and we dont want to sit back and watch this disease destroy us so we've started to consider alternative treatments and suppliments such as aloe MPS, Essiac tea, or U-Fucoidan (found in brown seaweed, kombu). does anyone have any info on these natural remedies? also i've heard that green tea extracts are very effective in stoppping cancer growth does anyone have any info about this?

there are alot of website with info on these products but majority of them are trying to sell the products and also lack scientific evidence. i was hoping someone on this site might have more info.   

Hi.

I am sorry about your dad, but you give me hope. What kind of chemo was he on that was shrinking the liver tumors. All we've been offered is adriamyacin. Didnt do a thing...We did SIRsheres and are about to do it again, it stopped the progression completely for 6 months! But we need more fire power ya know...(my husband 37)     Dont know n-e thing about the alternative treatments u mentioned...wish i could help.  Brandy

my dad had oxiplatin and 5fu (i think that's how you spell them), to start off with that reduced the tumour from 4cm to half a cm. when it came back he got capecetabein (this is a tablet) and some thing else i cant remember. this second set is much much more stronger and the side efects was very sever. they planned to give him 12 cycles but had to stop at 10.

 

My brother was diagnosed with HCC in October 2006.  He had a chemembolization (did not work as well as hoped for), eval for liver transplant--PET scan showed nodule also on  lung so transplant not possible), had 3 cycles of doxorubicin in April-May (did not do much if anything but was very toxic), and just started Nexavar a week ago.  He felt healthy until the doxorubicin but that really hit hard.  After some therapy to improve blood counts, started Nexavar and is having appetite problems.  Has thought about taking sunrecome, a Chinese mushroom extract, that his oncologist said helped one or more of his patients.  It is expensive but may be worthwhile.  Has anyone had any experience with sunrecome?  

Thank you all for your messages and insights--it helps to hear what is working and what is not working.

Louise

i have no info about the mushroom you mention so cant offer much help. i've been doing alot of research on the net and on a lot of cancer websites people are talking about a tea called essiac tea. it cost around £10 for a months supply. the women who first used this tea for cancer patients in the 1930's apparetly used it on her aunt and mother who both had liver cancer. she (originally a nurse herself) claimed that she treated both her aunt and then her mother with this tea. just letting you know in case you want to try something cheaper.