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 the portal vein noted by sonographic evidence suggestive of invasion of the vein, which is why they are saying that surgery is not an option.
Has anyone else been told this? What treatments did you try?
Her Kaiser MD in Santa Rosa says he's seen just 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