It hasn't even been two weeks yet and i know I shouldn't make any major decisions in the first year... but I'm curious and making conversation too. When I come home it's hard for me to get out of the driveway and come inside knowing he's not here.
Did you move out of the home you shared or did you stay? Why or why not?
My husband is having a biopsy on Monday but further review of his last MRI shows lesions, different kinds on about 50% of his liver and a large tumor invading his portal vein. My understanding is this currently makes him ineligible for transplant and surgery so mostly likely our only option is chemo and/or radiation.
If he has treatment and is able to shrink the tumor(s) it's possible he may be eligible for transplant later on. Or at least be reassessed. At least from what I'm reading.
Has anyone done this, managed liver cancer down to be able to get a transplant later on? Or been in a similar situation that could give me some information? We of course haven't heard from his doctor and only meet with oncology 10 days after the biopsy, to ensure the results are all in.
Thanks so much.
My husband is having a number of issues in his abdomen at the moment. It looks like liver cancer, biopsy is on Monday but it looks very serious and complicated. They thought he had a number of liver metastases but it looks now like he may have one large primary liver tumor and many other lesions.
In all the testing to try and find where he could have cancer that spread to the liver they discovered a stomach ulcer which he is now taking Pantoprazole for.
This is my question. His abdomen is very swollen and he's having trouble eating. Eating causes pain and discomfort and he eats very little and feels full right away. Any suggestions of what foods he may be able to eat in this situation? What could work best? We keep trying different things (soup, oatmeal, toast and eggs, fruit) and he tries to eat but it's a real challenge. He is taking ensure and some powerade here and there to help as well. Anyone else been in this situation and were you able to find some things that worked better than others?
I'm really concerned about keeping his strength and energy up for treatment. Would really appreciate hearing anyone else's experience and suggestions.
Thanks so much.
My husband was in the ER two days ago with pain in his left side that lead to a number of scans. At first they thought his gallbladder was infected and needed to be removed, then another scan showed it wasn't... not the best hospital at all.
But my concerns are with the language about his liver in the imaging. When we questioned it and asked if it meant cancer we were told likely not, could be cirrhosis. Is that true?
On his CT it showed "Mildly enlarged. Surface nodularity. There are extensive masses of varying size and degrees of enhancement consistent with diffuse metastatic disease."
On the following ultrasound it stated: Heterogeneous ecotexture of the liver with multiple solid masses, consistent with metastatic disease.
Had anyone has these findings before and it was not cancer? Could this be cirrhosis? We left the hospital and he has an appt today with a GI specialist to review everything but I was hoping for a straight answer, to prepare myself The ER situation, with multiple residents each giving us different takes has me up asking at 4 am.
Thanks in advance.
So I'm in the ER at Inspira Vineland going on 15 hours now with my husband. Long story short his abdominal pain (on the other side) turned into scans that likely show his gallbladder is infected and his liver is showing signs of cirrhosis. We have heard three different plans so far - remove gallbladder, remove gallstones and biopsy liver, scan liver no biopsy. He's in another scan now and it took them 6 hours overnight to read and confirm the last scan. I'm beyond exhausted and concerned.
I'm not sure what my options are to transfer him, we almost left this morning and they urged us to stay that this was very serious. Then why is this taking so fucking long??? I have my own experiences here and don't trust them. The GI specialist was supposed to speak with us at 7 am - is after 10 am and he still hasn't stopped by.
Anyone have a good doctor or hospital they would recommend that specializes in these issues? I'm googling my fingers off on these conditions and places and I'm cross eyed. Would appreciate any recommendations anyone has.
As I was writing this another doctor stopped by with yet another approach. At least this one seemed reasonable and knowledgeable but still said the GI doctor makes the final decision... ... ...
Anyway, thanks so much in advance.
So it's been over two weeks since completing 3 weeks of radiation and I have two huge areas under my breast where the skin is broken open and raw.
I'm not sure what to do, been dealing with this for days now. Doctors office isn't great, just saying to apply silvadene 3 times a day and let them know if I want to be seen. Told me to air it out if I can so I'm laying around topless as much as I can. It's extremely painful and I have a lot of pain in my arm pit as well (no visible skin issues there). Talking to the rads folks seems like a total waste of time, as per usual.
Anyone have any tips? I have very large breasts so it's difficult to keep one up in the air at all times... and I'm not sure if that's helpful for the healing. Should I cover the wounds with a dressing, keep it moist with something like aloe (which burns the raw open skin) or keep it dry... keep using silvadene until everything closes up (one gash is quite wide, i can't imagine how long that will take). I'm at a loss here, anyone have an experience with this? Suggestions? This is truly never ending, so tired of this.
Thanks so much. ❤️
Hi,
Does anyone have any recommendations for a good cardiologist in our region? I'll travel for excellent care, including into Philly if necessary. I go into Philly for care all the time.
Bonus points if it's a woman and has any experience treating cancer patients as I'm dealing with issues that came from cancer treatment.
Thanks in advance!
After completing 3 weeks of radiation on my right side, my blood pressure has been much too high. Last one at the radiation center was 181/91 and that was 1.5 weeks ago. They had told me before they don't really care about blood pressure, when it was only slightly high and i was concerned... so helpful. My BP was normal before BC and only slightly elevated through surgery and chemo (lumpectomy and TC), as much as chemo caused issues with an elevated heart rate that seems to have now, finally, gone away.
I've been checking here at home, here and there, first thing in the morning to be consistent and this morning it was 150/100... my diastolic has been in the 90s since I've been checking and I'm worried. Seems to be going in the wrong direction. I am still dealing with a lot of pain and burning from the radiation.
So before i start going down a rabbit hole of information gathering, has anyone else dealt with this? Did it get better over time? Or could this be a permanent side effect that I'll likely need to get medication for? I have an appt with a new primary care tomorrow so I'll be discussing with her of course. I made that appt before I was diagnosed with cancer in October, that's how long it took to get a new patient appt, hope she is worth the wait.
Thanks in advance, ladies. Not sure what I would do without this community.
I'm so tired, in every way.
And I just need to say, I hate when people ask me normal people questions.
"What are you doing for your birthday?"
Putting a cold compress on my bright red breast and taking a nap?
I don't know what to say, how to answer. I'm not sure what would be better but the small talk at the radiation center just makes me nuts. It's like they refuse to see you're a cancer patient. Don't you deal with them all day long? Shall we pretend none of this is happening? Is that how you get through the day? Guess what, that doesn't work for me! Wish it did...
I absolutely fucking hate it. Please stop trying to make me get it up for you, stranger.
Thank you for letting me share.
ETA: I'm exhausted and overwhelmed... my breast turned bright red and burny after the first rads and all the folks at the center could say is "oh that usually doesn't happen after one session"... i have 2 more to go and I'm in a lot of pain and I hate the hollow small talk. it's really upsetting to have to put a face on at radiation. can't I just be who I am here and get through this in an authentic way... smh
So I met with my RO for the first time last Thursday. She's well rated and she was ok but I found her kind of too happy go lucky, especially at a time where I'm just completely exhausted.
My path has been challenging. Lumpectomy recovery was very painful, for weeks, with a doctor that was away for the holidays and only had her office staff for support... and they were a complete disappointment.
I couldn't get into an oncologist for chemo for weeks at my orginal center so I went elsewhere... and during my first chemo infusion had a leak into my arm that left me with a burn on my whole inner forearm that still hasn't healed (almost 3 months now). Went somewhere else for the rest of chemo but had to stop early due to fevers landing me in the ER and elevated heart rate issues after infusions. Beyond that I had almost all the chemo side effects so... it hasn't been easy. Far from it. I was told I'm "very sensitive to chemo"... well it is poison so... thanks? Wtf...
But here we are, radiation. So I met with them last week, wasn't thrilled but ok. She said something about at this point it's the end of people's journeys so they are good to go which i didn't respond to but it's not the end of mine. Next I'll have to have my ovaries out since I'm BRCA1+... and my mother had pancreatic cancer so not even sure what that screening will entail. I told her my breast still swells from time to time, is it ok to have radiation under those circumstances and she said "why did it still swell, surgery was months ago"... I didn't know what to say, you're the fucking doctor lady, I offered that I will check with my surgeon. She send surprised that I came to see them 4 weeks after chemo ended, instead of 2, cause I needed a break (that's what I had told her scheduler at the time and she repeated that). I refrained from saying that I had been to 2 ERs since my last infusion and even 4 weeks later, still dealing with thrush and still feel like shit... but didn't appreciate the lack of compassion or empathy when she repeated that i 'needed a break'.
Today I go in for the prep appt and my RO tells me to "BE HAPPY!"... I think my whole body reacted to that comment. Like are you fucking kidding me??? Do I really have to get it up for your fucks in radiation now? While I don't need her to hold my hand and cry with me for fucks sake lady... stfu please!!! I'm a human being and this isn't a fun time!
I don't know how I'm going to deal with seeing this person for the next few weeks. Do I say something or just grin and bear it? When we were working on scheduling and I had some preferences the assistant was surprised that I had 'worked it all out' and I told her 'this is a circle of hell, I'm trying to manage it best i can'. I'm sure these folks have to detach to get through the day but... am I supposed to act like I'm at Disneyland? This isn't a fucking party. Beyond the fact that this unserious attitude makes me nervous, do you know what you are doing? I've had enough 'easy' things go wrong.
I don't know anymore. I can barely get through the day as it is but am doing my best to get back to whatever normal looks like now... but now I'm supposed to dance for your ignorant asses... will they tell me to smile next time... how will i refrain from punching someone in the face or cursing them out... what did I do to deserve this, on top of everything else...