CancerCompass message board discussion started by lisaann on 4/28/2008 http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,23499,0.htm Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ Hello,I'm just wondering if anyone wishes to share their experience on having liver resection surgery vs. treating liver tumors with other means such as cyberknife, cryotherapy, or radio frequency ablation.I meet with the liver specialist at UCSD this Thursday, May 1st & I know he'll want to push the resection.  It seems to make more sense, but I'm wondering if it might be possible to treat with other noninvasive methods instead.My situation is that I had stage IV rectal cancer with mets to both liver & lungs.  I had amazing results to my chemo (and I believe God's touch, for sure!)  My rectal tumor is now completely gone, everything in my lungs is gone, & I'm down from 12 liver tumors to just 3!  These 3 no longer show up "hot" on the PET scan.  I know they need to come out, but am wondering which is the best approach.  Mr Dr. proposes removing the entire left lobe of the liver (2 of the 3 tumors are there) and doing a wedge resection on the right lobe for the other tumor.  I formerly had multiple other tumors in both lobes, which have now completely resolved, with the exception of these 3.  The largest of the 3 now measures 2.7 cm. across.Any advice or sharing of stories would be appreciated- also anyone who had liver resection such as this- how long did it take you to recover both internally, energy wise, and so far as the cut/scar?  I'm 41 yrs old & have done very well with my chemo and not having many side effects, so I hope that I would heal pretty quickly.Thanks in advance,Lisa  lisaann Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT  On 4/28/2008 lisaann wrote:Hello,I'm just wondering if anyone wishes to share their experience on having liver resection surgery vs. treating liver tumors with other means such as cyberknife, cryotherapy, or radio frequency ablation.I meet with the liver specialist at UCSD this Thursday, May 1st & I know he'll want to push the resection.  It seems to make more sense, but I'm wondering if it might be possible to treat with other noninvasive methods instead.My situation is that I had stage IV rectal cancer with mets to both liver & lungs.  I had amazing results to my chemo (and I believe God's touch, for sure!)  My rectal tumor is now completely gone, everything in my lungs is gone, & I'm down from 12 liver tumors to just 3!  These 3 no longer show up "hot" on the PET scan.  I know they need to come out, but am wondering which is the best approach.  Mr Dr. proposes removing the entire left lobe of the liver (2 of the 3 tumors are there) and doing a wedge resection on the right lobe for the other tumor.  I formerly had multiple other tumors in both lobes, which have now completely resolved, with the exception of these 3.  The largest of the 3 now measures 2.7 cm. across.Any advice or sharing of stories would be appreciated- also anyone who had liver resection such as this- how long did it take you to recover both internally, energy wise, and so far as the cut/scar?  I'm 41 yrs old & have done very well with my chemo and not having many side effects, so I hope that I would heal pretty quickly.Thanks in advance,Lisa Lisaann, could you share what chemo you received with us?  It soundslike it really worked for you. My son Mark who is now 48 is in asimilar situation as you were when you had numbers of liver tumors  inboth lobes.He seems to be stable after much chemo; the tumors haveshrank from original size but he still has the same number of livertumors. His chemo was old traditional chemo like cisplatin, Flurouricil(5FU). I am looking around to see if there is anything else for himsuch as the Sir Spheres Yettium beads. I did have him evaluated and hewas a candidate for cyberknife a couple of years ago but it was soexpensive and he had no insurance. Now he has medicare. Keep us postedon what your liver specialist says and what you decide to have in the way of treatment.I write a blog about Mark and you can google the next adventure  cancer and find it. Miss Betty the mom     Miss Betty The Mom Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hi, I too am seeking further treatment options for stg iv colon cancer. l would be interested in knowing what your treatments have been that have been so successful. Well done.I have just failed Xeloda treatment after 18 mths and looking at Erbitux as 3rd line treatment I think. I am curious about liver resection. I have been told I am in-operable...but so many people on this forum seem to be successful. I am interestedin hearing about your progress wiht the liver surgeon too!best wishesBenny   Benny Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT  On 5/1/2008 Miss Betty The Mom wrote: On 4/28/2008 lisaann wrote:Hello,I'm just wondering if anyone wishes to share their experience on having liver resection surgery vs. treating liver tumors with other means such as cyberknife, cryotherapy, or radio frequency ablation.I meet with the liver specialist at UCSD this Thursday, May 1st & I know he'll want to push the resection.  It seems to make more sense, but I'm wondering if it might be possible to treat with other noninvasive methods instead.My situation is that I had stage IV rectal cancer with mets to both liver & lungs.  I had amazing results to my chemo (and I believe God's touch, for sure!)  My rectal tumor is now completely gone, everything in my lungs is gone, & I'm down from 12 liver tumors to just 3!  These 3 no longer show up "hot" on the PET scan.  I know they need to come out, but am wondering which is the best approach.  Mr Dr. proposes removing the entire left lobe of the liver (2 of the 3 tumors are there) and doing a wedge resection on the right lobe for the other tumor.  I formerly had multiple other tumors in both lobes, which have now completely resolved, with the exception of these 3.  The largest of the 3 now measures 2.7 cm. across.Any advice or sharing of stories would be appreciated- also anyone who had liver resection such as this- how long did it take you to recover both internally, energy wise, and so far as the cut/scar?  I'm 41 yrs old & have done very well with my chemo and not having many side effects, so I hope that I would heal pretty quickly.Thanks in advance,Lisa Lisaann, could you share what chemo you received with us?  It soundslike it really worked for you. My son Mark who is now 48 is in asimilar situation as you were when you had numbers of liver tumors  inboth lobes.He seems to be stable after much chemo; the tumors haveshrank from original size but he still has the same number of livertumors. His chemo was old traditional chemo like cisplatin, Flurouricil(5FU). I am looking around to see if there is anything else for himsuch as the Sir Spheres Yettium beads. I did have him evaluated and hewas a candidate for cyberknife a couple of years ago but it was soexpensive and he had no insurance. Now he has medicare. Keep us postedon what your liver specialist says and what you decide to have in the way of treatment.I write a blog about Mark and you can google the next adventure  cancer and find it. Miss Betty the mom   Hi Betty,The chemo I had was called Folfox + Avastin.  The Folfox part of consisted of 5-FU, Leucovorin, and Oxaliplatin.  I was infused with these 4 once every two weeks.  I'd go in on a Wednesday, get the infusion for about 4 hrs., then go home with a pump of 5-FU plugged into me for the next 46 hours.  From what I gather, the Avastin was the new big drug that probably was the lifesaver here.  As with all, there are side effects- mine weren't too bad, except that it caused my blood pressure to skyrocket- I managed okay by taking blood pressure medication.  My blood pressure is now (3 months later) completely normal again.Best wishes for your son!  I see the liver specialist today- I'll try to remember to post here again after I know and have decided which approach to go with- liver resection surgery or cyberknife.Blessings to you-Lisa  lisaann Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT Lisa,My husband had a liver resection last year in July (at age 59). (He had 15% of a kidney removed in 5/07 for primary kidney cancer then biopsy of liver showed primary liver cancer-very unusual, they say) His liver tumor was 4.6 cm prior to resection. He was not offered any other treatment or options before or after resection. He has a large scar (big peace sign/mercedes logo) on his chest. One part nearly goes from nipple to hip bone. He was IP about 9 days post-op. Had some complications when bile backed up & he had NG tube stuck down throat to relieve bloat and then had abcess week after discharge that required weekend back in the hospital & more drains inserted. It is a major operation and takes a couple of months to recover from baring complications. I would say it is last choice option. You seem to have made remarkable improvement with chemo. Good luck to you!Liz   LizzieP Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hi,Thanks for the info.  Best wishes for your husband's health!Lisa lisaann Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT  On 4/28/2008 lisaann wrote:Hello,I'm just wondering if anyone wishes to share their experience on having liver resection surgery vs. treating liver tumors with other means such as cyberknife, cryotherapy, or radio frequency ablation.I meet with the liver specialist at UCSD this Thursday, May 1st & I know he'll want to push the resection.  It seems to make more sense, but I'm wondering if it might be possible to treat with other noninvasive methods instead.My situation is that I had stage IV rectal cancer with mets to both liver & lungs.  I had amazing results to my chemo (and I believe God's touch, for sure!)  My rectal tumor is now completely gone, everything in my lungs is gone, & I'm down from 12 liver tumors to just 3!  These 3 no longer show up "hot" on the PET scan.  I know they need to come out, but am wondering which is the best approach.  Mr Dr. proposes removing the entire left lobe of the liver (2 of the 3 tumors are there) and doing a wedge resection on the right lobe for the other tumor.  I formerly had multiple other tumors in both lobes, which have now completely resolved, with the exception of these 3.  The largest of the 3 now measures 2.7 cm. across.Any advice or sharing of stories would be appreciated- also anyone who had liver resection such as this- how long did it take you to recover both internally, energy wise, and so far as the cut/scar?  I'm 41 yrs old & have done very well with my chemo and not having many side effects, so I hope that I would heal pretty quickly.Thanks in advance,Lisa  hello, i can give you info on the resection as I underwent the resection last Jan for HCC.  I stayed in hospital for about 4 days and had an uneventful recovery.  They told me it would take 6 weeks to get back to normal, not!  Try more like a year.  Surgery not terribly painful but it is a big surgery.  I still have some digestive issues that flare up from time to time.  this was the only treatment i was offered as they could easily remove the tumor hanging off of the left lobe.  good luck to you and I hope that helps Irisv Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hi,Thanks for your information.  I went ahead and decided on having the resection.  It's scheduled for May 23.  I was told I'll be in the hospital about a week.  I was surprised to see you were only in 4 days.  Most of my left lobe will be removed and also a small wedge from my right lobe.  Having never had major surgery before (just an appecdectomy at age 12), I'm just nervous about some of the simpler things- breathing tube down my throat, having a urinary catheter while the epidural's in place, and just having pain.  The epidural supposedly is pretty good for that.  I've heard it's the few days after they take the epidural out that I'll experience any pain.  I hadn't even thought about any followup digestive issues- I guess I'll be prepared for that now.  Any foods in particular that bother you more than others, or does it not have anything to do with what you eat?How long ago did you have the resection?  You said it was actually about a year to be back to "nornal".  I was thinking about resuming my teaching position at the start of the new school year in August, but I decided not to.  I don't think I'll have the energy, given I had major chemo and am still having daily fatigue and weakness.Thanks again for your info-Lisa lisaann Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hi lisa, I did not have an epidural, just had general anesthesia.  it was a year and a half to be exact.  I was very fortunate.  A team of excellent liver specialist did my surgery.  don't worry, you will have a little discomfort but they will give you plenty of pain meds.  the tube in your throat will in all likelihood be out when you are done.  you just have a sore throat.  the catheter is put in usually in the OR in my case, I was asleep.  Sort of stings just a little when they take it out.  you are wise to put off your work for a while.  After the surgery, I was very tired and needed naps even 6 months after.  I am good now, still have minor digestive issues with the wrong food.  You will be fine and I will say a prayer for you.   Modern medicine is very far along now.  One piece of advice, take the pain medicine..Do not try to be stoic.  I had a morphine pump and did not push as much as I should have.  it is best to stay ahead of the pain.  Take care  iris  Irisv Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT Much appreciated!Lisa lisaann Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hi,It's me, Lisa, again.  I had the liver resection on May 23.  Today is now May 31 & I came home 2 days ago, on the 29th.  Here I am sitting at my computer at 1:20 a.m. because I can't sleep!  I had my first day of feeling pretty good today- it's amazing what a week can do!  For some reason, I feel wired and can't get comfortable enough lying down, so I thought I'd check in on this website.Anyhow, in a nutshell, the surgery and hospital stay went better than I feared before.  The surgeon did, however, discover 3 additional tumors during my surgery which had never shown up on any CT scans.  If I had the cyberknife or RFA as I had thought about doing before, these would never have been discovered.  My Dr. said they were probably just not dense enough to show up on a CT.  All were under a centimeter, but it was the density, not size, that kept them from showing up on any CT scans.    So, instead of just removing 2 tumors from my left lobe and one from my right, I had removed 4 tumors in my left lobe (whole left lobe removed) and 2 tumors in my right lobe removed, along with my gallbladder.  I still have about 55% of my liver remaining.   I now also have a lovely 8-9 inch incision.The pain during the hospital stay was controlled the first couple of days by an epidural, which worked well.  It worked its way out of my back, however, and I did have one night of bad pain before they got the new pain meds right.  I came home on the 6th day after surgery, which my surgeon considered to be very good, in that my incision was doing well, vitals were good, and I seemed to be gaining my strength enough to walk slow laps around the two nurses' stations (just one morning of very low blood pressure, but it soon came up again).  I want to comment on my liver surgeon, as well.  Dr. Andrew Lowy from Thornton Hospital at UCSD in La Jolla, CA (San Diego)- he is an awesome surgeon, with a wonderful bedside manner.  I would definitely recommend him to others.  I know UCSD highly sought him out and people come from all over to be treated by him. He practiced before in Cincinatti and also at MD Anderson. lisaann Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT