Cholangiocarcinoma With Young Women

My wife and I were told she had issue with her gallbladder. Just before the birth of our son 2-05 (born early 3-5-05) we did a procedure which told was she had a tumor in the bile duct. Cholangiocarcinoma no clue what is was. So We had him and we discovered that surgery was out. So we began Chemo. She is still strong and postive. Lost body weight but we are eating as much as we can. What are some things as her caregiver and new father must be aware of?

You will be glad that I happened on this web sight. My husband was diagnosed with cholangio carcinoma just over a year ago. There is a lot you can do and look into.

1. Before I forget you are in our prayers.

2. They tried to resection Scott's liver in May, but got in and the cancer had spread too far. They removed his gall bladder, took a biopsy and closed him up.

3. Not many options--but they put him on a combination of Gemzar (Gemsar?)--a "traditional chemo" 3 weeks on, and 1 week off. They also put him on Erbitux. It is not a chemo, but deals with cancer on a different level. It was also given interveniously every week. After 8 weeks, his tumor had "shrunk dramatically". He said on over probablly 4 more months and he did not get the fantastic response he had in the beginning. However, the tumor had shrunk enough that he was able to go into surgery again, and at that time they removed the left lobe of his liver.

He kept up on the Gemsar and Erbitux for 8 more weeks. At that time there was one spot on his liver. They used a new method of burning the spot out. This was done by a radiational oncologist. It is called Radio Frequency Oblation. It was similar to a needle biopsy--but took about a half hour of "burn". He spent the night in the hospital, we had a very quiet weekend, and he was back to work on Monday.
He said on the drugs for another month, and he now has 2 very small spots. We are in the wait and see period now.

4. Another non-chemo drug that they had discussed putting Scott on is Avastin. A google search of Erbitux and Avastin will turn up a lot information. These drugs are approved for adavanced colon cancer. I just read tonight that they are doing a test with Erbitux on head and throat cancers.

5. Read "Love, Medicine and Miracles" by Dr. Bernie Siegel, M.D. also "Affirmations for Getting Well Again" by Carl Simonton, M.D. both are great books and gave us a LOT of hope and encouragement. The Siegel book allowed us to sleep at night--we read it to each other before turning off our light at night. I honestly think it had a huge part in Scott's healing. Please write me if you have any more questions.

I am curious about your husband's cancer treatments. I hope you don't mind me asking you some questions.

1. Is Gemzar and gemcitobine the same drug?

2. Where had your husband's cancer spread to?

My dad is 63 and was diagnosed in October with bile duct cancer. It had spread into his liver (a good sized tumor) and into one of his ribs and a vertebrae. Gemcitobine and xoloda didn't help at all. Doxil hasn't helped either. The cancer has recently spread out of his vertebrae and wrapped around his spinal cord. He is paralyzed from the waist down. He is in rehab right now to build up his uppper body strength so he can use a wheel chair. We are hoping he can come home soon. They will discuss future treatments once he is out of rehab. I think I will look more into Erbitux and Avastin and mention it to his doctor.

I'm glad to hear your husband is doing well. It gives the rest of us hope.

Thank you for sharing your story.

JenRose

Dear Jenrose,
I would be happy to help you. First, yes Gemzar and Gemcitabine are the same drug. My husband's cancer had infiltrated his entire left side of his liver and was starting into the right side. He had also gotten into a lymph node--which they were able to remove during the first surgery. It had also started to attach to his stomach.

You may also want to ask your doctor about embolization--where they go up through the blood vessels and place radioactive beads to fight the cancer. I believe this is a fairly "new" treatment for some cancers. An "interventional radiologist" is the one who goes through the vessels.

Let me know if you want our doctors' phone numbers. Good luck with your Dad. Remind him that new treatments are coming out all of the time. He needs to keep a positive attitude and not lose heart.