Cholangiocarcinoma & Vietnam Veterans.

Hello,

I am sorry for what you and your husband are going through.  I know all to well how it feels.

I filed my claim through the local office of Veterans Affairs.  Even tho' it has been denied, they are working with me to dispute it.  I know that more claims are denied than are approved for this, but I plan to keep trying as long as they feel it is worth while.  If it doesn't help me, atleast the more claims that are made now may some how help others in the future.

Good luck to you.  I will be hoping & praying for the best for both of you.

Darla

My Dad has been diagnosed with Cholangiocarcinma on July 15, 2009. My mom and I have been taking care of him. He was healthy up until now. He is wasting away right in front of our eyes. He has been to several oncologists and the story is always the same – inoperable and incurable and lets try Chemo for palliative treatment. He has been on Xeloda for 2 months and will have a CT on November 2nd 2009 to see if the chemo is doing anything. He had two stents put in his bile ducts in July but had to have them removed on 10/16/ 2009. That took a lot out of him. He is sleeping most of the day and not wanting to eat much. We don’t know how long he has, it’s just so frustrating. I have also contacted the VA, since he is a veteran and served in Vietnam and was around Agent Orange. The VA does not acknowledge his type of cancer, even though it is predominate in Vietnam and the doctors at University of Washington even said it’s most likely from the war and Agent Orange. It’s so sad to see him in this condition. I feel like he is not accepting this prognosis very well. He seems depressed. He is not talking much and does not want to visit with his friends or family. How can I help him or make him talk about all this?

Sandy,

This all makes me so angry.  Obviously there are more & more Vets being diagnoised with and dying from this horrid type of cancer and they still keep saying there is not enough evidence of it and will not acknowledge it.  I do believe that it is caused in most cases by the parisites.  It just makes sense, but they refuse to admit it and it is hard to prove.  I am going to keep trying and I hope others will too.  I do know of some that have been approved, but most are being denied.  If enough of us are persistant, sooner or later they will have to take responsibility for this.

In my husbands case things went so rapidly that we didn't really have time to think about or talk about much of anything. I really don't know what to tell you about trying to help your Dad, but I think he needs to handle it in his own way.  I know my husband did not talk about it much either and trying to get him to talk about it, see people etc. didn't work.  All you can do is be there for him and make sure that he is comfortable and in as little pain as possible.  I know that my husband was given antidpressants and antianxiety meds towards the end and he also agreed to talk with a counselor at the hospital.  I'm not sure how much that helped, but I have to believe it did. 

It is all so hard and frustrating.  You just feel so helpless. I am so sorry that you and your family have to go through this, but I do understand.

I will be hoping for the best for all of you and everyone else dealing with this cancer.

Darla

hi everyone, my dad had been diagnose with CC about 3 weeks ago. He is a vietnam veteran and we are fighting for service connected. I would like to join his name to the list.

Hello,

Yes it is a known fact that Cholangiocarinoma (Bile Duct Cancer) (Klatskin Tumor) on the right and left hepatic duct is mostly caused by a parasite in their water. Southeast Asia is the problem area. You can also get it from eating their fresh water fish and yes it take 15 to 20 years to surface...It's a real killer.

I have been telling everyone about bile duct cancer and Southeast Asia...

Thanks, Leonard from Alamo California

I retired from the US Navy with 30 years of active duty service in May of 1999. I am a Vietnam Vet who also was diagnosed in Sept 2007 with Cholangiocarcinoma. 70 percent of my liver was resectioned in Dec 2007. This cancer has moved into my lungs and has been treated with radiation and chemo. I quit chemo two weeks ago, as I was told that I would have to have chemo for the rest of my life. I was given two different chemicals every other week and was bedridden for 7 days after treatment. That is not a very good quality of life. Now I am currently feeling pretty well except for shortness of breath and pain in my right side. I have decided to put my life in the hands of the Man upstairs. I have not filed a claim with the VA as I don't have any proof that I had a parasite nor have I ever had hepatitus C, but as sure as I am typing this I obtained this disease serving my country. I also am very lucky to still be here and I attribute that to the power of prayer! God Bless all of you! Dwight

Dwight - thank you so much for your service to our country so that I can be free to sit at this computer every night.  Please take care of yourself and by all means do what you need to do to make our country pay for you suffering.  You deserve it and there is not a good American who would disagree.  God Bless you and your family.

Cheryl  Oklahoma City

My dad also died of cholangiocarcinoma on December 18, 2009. He also served in Vietnam from 1952 - 1972. My mom also has a claim in for VA benefits. We took my dad to several well known hospitals in the Seattle area and they all said he got this cancer from Liver flukes and it's from serving in Vietnam. This cancer is common in Southeast Asia; more than seven million people are affected with liver parasites in Vietnam and Thailand. You get it from drinking the water and eating the fish. The US says this cancer is rare...not if you are a Veteran. We need to fight the VA for our father’s benefits. They served our country for our freedom and we need to fight for them. If they hadn’t served our country they would be alive today!!!

My husband was in the same location at the same time. He has ampullary cancer, located where the bile duct joins to the small intestine. 

Hello Sdaqqett,

I am assuming you mean the cancer is located at the head of the Pancreas. This is the area where the Common Bile Duct meets with the Pancreatic Duct at the Duodenum.

I don't know if you have a question or you are telling us of these horrible cancer your husband has.  I am sorry to hear this.

It is well known that teavelling in Southeast Asia for a long period of time and drinking their water or eating their fresh fish or just eating any of their food that has been washed with their water you have a very good chance of getting Bile Duct Cancer. There is parasites in the water.

This is a very slow cancer...it can take 15 years to surface, but when it does it is usually in a stage III or IV status.

Again, I am very sorry to hear of your husband cancer.

My wife was diagnosed in 2003 and battled this cancer until it took her life on December 2, 2010.

Take card...Leonard From Alamo California