Stomach Cancer W/ Liver Mets

Hello.

I'm new to this site and just returned from a 2-week trip to see my father who has been diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer.
I'm originally from Bolivia, where he still lives. I currently live in Florida.

The doctors there had a very hard time diagnosing as he had no major symptomps until 3 months ago.

He underwent surgery to remove his gald bladder that was full and theirs plans was to attempt a removal of stomach. Unfortunately they found that the liver, pancreas and other organs were affected to the point that they were literally "hardened".
His liver is currently not working and they were hoping it will work once the bile drains out, but it's been 1 week and still nothing. He is currently being fed through a vein.

Anyway, his cancer has progressed incredibly fast and specialists in Bolivia have told my mother and I that there's nothing else they can do. They won't even attempt chemotherapy.

As you can understand, I refuse to give up and I'm desperately searching for options. He has no insurance in the US, but I would do anything I have to do if anybody could give me hope that his life could be at least extended.
I'm pregnant with my first child and my parents' first grandchild, and our biggest hope is that he can live to meet this baby.

Could anybody PLEASE point me in any direction that could be helpful? i.e. gastric cancer centers, financial help for uninsured cancer patients, etc?

I read about ISSELS and will give them a call to see if they may be of any help.

Thanks in advance.

-Valeria.

THE NEGATIVES
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1. he does not sound strong enough to travel safely from there to here.

2. even if he were here, even if he had insurance, even if he was strong enough to receive the chemotherapy, and even if the chemotherapy helped (half the time it has little effect - gastric cancer is quite resistant to treatment), it would only extend his life by a few months.

3. with what your dad has, from time of diagnosis, he likely has 3 to 6 months. there are rare lucky exceptions who live longer, but from your description, it does not sound like your father will be one of the lucky ones.

THE POSITIVES
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having said all that, you have nothing to lose by trying. however it will be an uphill battle. patient assistance programs that provide medications for free to indigent patients all say the patient must be a US citizen.

1) one thought comes to mind. contact a social worker in your area - perhaps call a local hospital and ask to be transferred to the social services department. they likely would know if there are any programs that could help. hospitals tend to know every program available, because they need to apply for them on uninsured patients behalves, so that the hospital can get reimbursed for caring for uninsured patients.

2) another thought would be to contact MD Anderson or Sloan-Kettering and ask if your father could participate in a Clinical Trial. Clinical Trial medications, office visits, everything is paid for by the sponsor of the clinical trial (usually a drug company). The arrangement is that your father is putting his life on the line to help this drug company test their new treatment, they are generally willing to pay for all of his care.

3) In addition to calling MD Anderson or Sloan-Kettering, to find out about clinical trials you can call the American Cancer Society or go to their web page and search clinical trials there or go to clinicaltrials.gov and look there.

here is a clinical trial that might just work for you:
http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00128609

and here are the contact people for that trial in FLORIDA:

Broward Oncology Associates, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 33308, United States; Recruiting
Luis R. Barreras, MD, FACP 954-771-0692 barrerasl@mindspring.com

H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute at University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, 33612-9497, United States; Recruiting
Alexander Rosemurgy, MD 813-844-4218 arosemur@hsc.usf.edu

I would contact the one at H.Lee Moffitt since that facility is #11 in the country (#1/#2 are Sloan-Kettering and MD Anderson) and he would likely get better care there than Broward in my opinion.

Summary: contact by phone or email Alexander Rosemurgy, MD at 813-844-4218 or arosemur@hsc.usf.edu and tell them about your dad and ask them about this clinical trial and any other questions you may have. generally they are happy to get calls like this because it can be very hard to find patients who qualify for a specific trial.

I hope this was helpful. Please keep us posted and let us know how it all works out,
-Amnia

Amnia,
Thank you for all the effort you put into getting me that information. I truly appreciate it.

I have email Moffit to inquire about the trial you mentioned.

I know hopes are slim, but I have to hold on to it until the end.

I will keep you posted on Moffit's response.

Thanks again!

-Valeria.

I am curious to know on what happend with your dad's situation. My dad is in the same situation and would help me out a whole lot. I am in US and would like to do anything there is.

I am thinking of going for other alternative treatments like cellular zeolite, OxyE and other herbal supplements. If anyone can help me in out in any information, would really appreciate it.

Thanks.