On 5/12/2008
Solutions wrote:
On 5/8/2008
excelpro wrote:
Hi,
My 78 yr mom was diagnosed last Friday and 3 stints were put in by CA Pac Med Ctr Tues. She has one known malignant lymph node near the liver, cancer in the bile duct, a 3.5 cm mass in the liver near that vein (i can't recall the name(.
Her Kaiser MD in Santa Rosa says he's seen a handful of cases (he looks young)
Does anyone have info/resources about a UCSF or other local oncologist with more case experience here in N CA with bile duct ?
She is feeling good, eating well, not in pain but had 16 Bilirubin/Jaundice Friday which is why they did the CAT scan and the stints. Her bilirubin is going down well now since the stints BTW CA Pacific Med Ctr in SF was awesome!
They want to do chemo but I am unsure which approach would be best. I see that surgery can be used to cut out the bile duct and tumor. I want to get a second opinion about this option, esp how risky surgery is, and why could they not just cut out the bad lymph node, tumor and bile duct and see if any other areas have cancer (CAT scan of upper torso was clear; they say they can do a PET scan to check other lymph nodes; I thought there was a blood test that checked tumor levels....still learning/grasping).
She has no other health issues, walks and eats well.
Any advice appreciated re: Kaiser system in N CA or nearby and/or UC resources in N CA or S CA.
God bless you all,
Carolyn
Hello Carolyn,
Iris filled you in pretty well and I agree with just about everything she passed on to you.
I don't need to add any additional information regarding the Bile Duct Cancer (Klatskin Tumor)
By the way a PET/CTscan is very important...Cancer can not hide from a PET scan.
If you are looking for a second opinion...contact ASAP...
Doctor Ryutaro Hirose,
Assistant Professor of Surgery, Transplantation and General Sugery
UCSF Medical Center
505 Parnassus Ave...San Francisco
Phone number: 415-353-1061
If anyone can help, this is doctor you want, he saved my wifes life.
Good luck...Leonard from Alamo
Dear Leonard,
Thank you for this information and for some reason, the other replies did not link to my email. I spoke at length with Marion,who lives here in Santa Rosa last Friday. Thank you for taking time to email me again. I have two teen children living with me part time who just came back Friday and I did check email frequently.
We have an appt as of yesterday with Dr. Lawrence Way also of UCSF. I am happy to hear your wife was saved by surgery. We will meet next week with him and I'll ask about the doctor you mentioned.
Can you give me some more information about how your wife is doing after the surgery now and how much of her liver was affected by the cancer growths? This is very encouraging that the surgery has been so successful. May I ask her age?
Thank you again for sharing your story with me.
God Bless you and your wife,
Carolyn