New here and terrified.

scareddaughter2 · New User Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 3

Hi. I guess my username says it all.

My dad has just been diagnosed with liver cancer. At the beginning of the week, they thought it was chirrosis which he definately has. He was a big drinker back in the day. Apparently, the chirrosis went undetected for a very long time. His GI doc thinks maybe 10 years!!! They are in the process of testing him for Hep C as well. How can that be possible????? Anyway, he has acetis and severe abdominal pain. He feels like he is hungry, but only takes a bite and says he can't eat anymore. He is very uncomfortable and the medication they have him on for pain isn't doing very much. The diretics seem to be working but very slowly. They told us they didn't want to drain him if the diruetics were working because every time they drain you it takes time off your lifespan.

He was admitted to the hospital on Sunday to get a CT done. The results of the CT showed a 'mass' on the liver. The doctor decided to drain the fluid and they took out 4 litres. He is having a MRI done today and they are doing a colonoscopy on Wednesday. I'm assuming that they have determined he has liver cancer and are looking to see if it spread. When we asked the GI doc the question "Do you think the mass on the liver could be a begnin tumor?" The answer was that it could be a possiblity but extremely unlikely because of the way the blood work came back. Apparently the MRI will show the tumors??????

From everything I've read the outcome doesn't look good for liver cancer. I'm terrified for my dad. We lost my grandfather to lung cancer about 5 years ago and he was living with my parents and chose to die at home. We all saw what he went through and my dad is saying that he will not do that to us, but what choice does he have.

I am heartbroken and very scared for my dad. He is only 60 and to young to die. He has 6 grandchildren with number 7 on the way. We're not even sure he'll make it to see the baby.

I guess I'm looking for someone to tell me what to expect. Thanks in advance.

brainman · Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 8:31 am Post subject: Re: New here and terrified.

I am very sorry about your father's possible cancer. To respond to the questions about benign vs malignant (cancerous), the only way to know for sure is by doing a biopsy. The MRI can show more details about the tumor but probably not be able to conclusively tell the difference between a benign tumor and a cancerous tumor. By "more details" I mean how involved are the major blood vessels that pass through the liver.

His prognosis really depends on the stage of the cancer (if in fact it is cancer) and if it can be surgically removed. Be sure to ask his doctor about the stage and survival rates for 1, 3, and 5 years with and without further treatments.

You and your father are in my thoughts and prayers.
_________________
Jim
Site Administrator and long-term cancer survivor
1992 Astrocytoma grade 2, left motor strip
2005 Recurrence this time said to be an Oligodendoglioma grade 3, same location.
My Story Part 1: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?p=7350
My Story Part 2: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=8029
Blog http://jimhawkinsport.blogspot.com/

Brian83 · Regular Joined: 04 Jun 2008 Posts: 10

You have my profound sympathy.

Getting anyone to tell you flat out what to expect is difficult. I wish it were otherwise, but direct, honest assessments are often seen as brutal. Few health care providers want o be viewed in that light.

That leaves us with having to seek out information on our own and we can frequently misinterpret it. I come from a family that believes that if you don't talk about something bad, it doesn't exist, so it's hard to get solid information from any of them regarding illness.

It's not a 'feel-good' article, but if you really want to know facts, I suggest you read the one I referred to in an earlier posting. It's about as complete as I could expect and it helped me come to terms with exactly what I'm facing. It has caused me to re-order my priorities.

It's also given me some knowledge of what to ask my physicians when I need straight answers. All of us should have our affairs in order to protect our survivors, and time is very important.

As to the 'draining' you spoke of .... My aunt had a benign tumor that needed to be drained periodically. Her doctor ruled out surgery, but when he was out of town and another doctor covered for him, this doctor went ahead with the surgery. It was successful and she lived many years after that. I guess it all depends on the patient and the skill of the medical team.

There's always hope. Keep your chin up. It may not be as bad as it seems.

mard · New User Joined: 26 May 2008 Posts: 3

Dear scaredaughter2, I am also going through the same thing with my dad, and am very scared, he was diagnosed about three months ago and he is holding his own. He is 85 and a heavy drinker for years and ended up with this terrible thing, we opted not to take the drug nexavar, but they will probably offer it to your dad, he is young he should probably do it , with my dad at 85 qualitly of life was more important, the nexavar would only give him a few more months at best and not sure of the side effects. I am finding the whole thing so over whelming, my sister lives in Boston two hours away and I am the main everything , we do have hospice involved but that scares me too because now if something really bad happens I have to call the nurse first and not 911 , now we have to handle it, his wish is to die at home.easier said then done . I almost wish we didnt and if something happens we would put him in the hospital. But I am going to try and be brave and do this for him. We do have cna's in place just twice a week with the nurse coming twice a week,but I need to talk him into more, he is a stubborn man and he thinks the water pills are going to help the swelling in his legs and It wont ,so its time to put more people in place. He is very yellow, his urin is just about brown, the swelling in his legs and feet make it hard for him to get around, but all in all he is doing ok. I just dont know what will be next thats the scariest, he lives alone and now I am looking into over night care. I am rambling sorry.My father is more advanced in the illness ,so I can try and give you allittle advice , its different because he lives alone and its just me and my sister, but with family and freind support hopfully it will be alittle easier.

scareddaughter2 · New User Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 3

Thank you all so much for the responses. I truly appreciate it. You feel so alone when going through all of this.
Mard: I am very sorry about your dad. We watched my grandfather die at home and it was by far one of the worst expierences of my life. I know what you are going through. It's going to be tough to do it alone. You will really need some help from your family. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
Brian: Thanks for the article. I read it through the tears I was fighting back. I know that the outcome doesn't look very good but I was hoping for a bit more time.
Brainman: Thanks for the words of encouragement.

As for my dad he was discharged yesterday from the hospital. They couldn't do a biobsy because they were afraid he would hemmorage. Apparently his blood is lacking the clotting part????
We got the results of the colonoscopy and that was good. No signs of cancer in the colon. But, I truly believe that this is liver cancer. He is deteriating by the day. The draining procedure knocked the crap out of him and made him very weak. He was gasping for air just to breath when he tried to tell you somehting. That seems to be getting a bit better for the time being.
From eveything I have read, the symptoms he has now and his weakness, shortness of breath, and lack of urination happen at the end. We have a doctor's appointment on Wednesday to get the results of everything including the fluid that was drained out of his abdomen.
Thank you all for your support.

brainman · Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 1:44 pm Post subject: Re: New here and terrified.

I am so sorry that they are not able to do a biopsy. They could do some things to help, like platelet transfusions. But maybe they are rather certain that it is Liver Cancer already.

The fluid that they drain might also contain Liver Cells. That will be a good alternative to a biopsy.
_________________
Jim
Site Administrator and long-term cancer survivor
1992 Astrocytoma grade 2, left motor strip
2005 Recurrence this time said to be an Oligodendoglioma grade 3, same location.
My Story Part 1: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?p=7350
My Story Part 2: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=8029
Blog http://jimhawkinsport.blogspot.com/

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