Hi,
I am really new on this site. My mom has bile duct cancer. After 2 grueling surgeries (liver and then pancreas) and chemo, it came back and spread to her stomach, kidney, back to the liver and nodules in her lungs. We also think it might be spreading more. After trying chemo pills that really wiped her out, she started bleeding. They felt like it was from the tumor on her kidney so they went in through the artery and tried to cut-off blood supply. Meanwhile, she is anemic and feels awful. She is still bleeding, not as much, but Mon. the 26th the Dr. wants to do surgery to use radiation and cauterize the tumor on her kidney. Mom said the Dr. said it would be hard to recover from this surgery. Her breathing is not great anyway.
I want to ask the Dr. about a blood transfusion, oxygen. I want her to feel as good as she can. She is wanting to get through this surgery to take another round of chemo. I'm afraid of this surgery and whether it's really needed but I try not to say anything that sounds negative to my mom. I don't know what to do. She hardly eats anything, has pain and is exhausted. She uses a walker because she was falling alot. I feel helpless and confused. I don't know how to help her and I worry about "what are the right decisions" in treatment. Sometimes I think she wants the best quality of life she can have now, and other times I know she wants the next round of chemo to cure her.
I'm heartbroken and frustrated that I can't fix it for her.
Thanks for listening.
Diane