Husband diagnosed with liver cancer
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Husband diagnosed with liver cancer
| Wed, 07-04-2007 - 12:39pm |
last week, my husband was diagnosed with liver cancer. It has invaded his portal vein, so there is no treatment. He was given 3-6 months. We are devastated. He is 51 and I'm 47, we've been married for 28 years. I don't know how I will breathe when he is gone. My normal isn't normal anymore. I have a weight on my chest, lump in my throat and I'm on the verge of tears 24/7. I don't know if will always be like this.
Does anyone have info on liver cancer? End stage? All of that. I've done a lot of research, but would love to hear some personal accounts. So glad to find this message board - could really use the support.
-Cathy

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I was deeply saddened to read your message. In 1995, I lost my precious husband Mason to lung cancer at the age of 51. I was 47 at that time. I,like you, didn't think I could live without his presence. ..just surviving for the first year was the hardest. But through the support of loving friends, family and a grief support group. I made it! I still feel his presence every day and my love has never stopped. I have been happily remarried since 2002. Something that I never anticipated. I also volunteer on the Oncology ward in a major hospital and each day I am reminded how we can only live in the minute. Life is hard, but there is so much love and hope that surrounds you and your beloved.
Your friend,
Sue
So sorry to hear about your husband.
My mother had pancreatic cancer with metasis to the liver. By the time she got the diagnosis, it was very advanced.
It was a challenge to find things she could eat and drink and tolerate. She had never been a coffee drinker, but when she got sick, she had a sudden craving for coffee. I read something on the Web that coffee can help to clear toxins from the liver, so maybe her instincts were right. She couldn't take hot coffee - anything hot turned her stomach. But she could tolerate the iced coffee drinks from Dunkin Donuts, and she loved those.
I had a hard time finding dietary advice on the Web. The advice from the hospice people was that she should eat and drink whatever she wanted, so we were left to our own devices to figure it out as to what she could eat and drink and tolerate.
My mother died of liver cancer...her doctor gave her 3 - 6 months. She lived 3 good years. There was no suffering. Toward the end she slept alot. I got other opinions but they were all the same. I think it was much harder on me and the thought of loosing her. The hardest thing in the world is to let go. I convinced myself everyday that she was getting better. But of course it was my hope. I believe in the power of prayer and the will to live. Miracles happen every day. My prayers are with you.
God Bless you both.
Anna
Hi Cathy,
I'm so sorry about your husband. My husband was diagnosed with HCC (primary liver cancer) in March 2006. We were told the same thing that he had 3-6 months to live. My husband also has end stage liver disease from Hep C in addition to liver cancer. Well here we are almost 18 months later and still fighting. The most frustrating thing I've found is that all of his doctors make decisions based on radiology reports. After awhile I noticed that many radiology reports were contradictory as far as number of tumors, size of tumors, and portal vein involvement. Have they said your husband's cancer has spread outside of his liver? Because I can give you some info and tell you what we have done. We have gone to several facilities in the hopes of being down staged to qualify for transplant, but after all that, we were told straight out that they don't give anyone with cancer a new liver because there are not enough livers to waste one on someone whose cancer may return. That is unacceptable to me. I found a research study sponsored by the Nat'l Institute of Health that is looking for candidates that have liver cancer for adult-to-adult living donor transplant. Here is a bit from the web page and the link with info on the 7 hospitals participating in the study.
"There are two principal purposes of this study: 1) to determine whether it is more beneficial for a liver transplant recipient candidate to pursue a living donor liver transplant (LDLT) or wait for a deceased donor liver transplant (DDLT), and 2) to study the impact of liver donation on the donor's health and quality of life.
Condition:
Cirrhosis
Hepatitis C
Hepatocellular Carcinoma"
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/NCT00096733?order=94
I called and spoke to a wonderful woman who is head of the research dept at Virginia Commonwealth University Hospital, Richmond, Virginia. She had me send all of my husband's records and now we have an appointment there next week for evaluation to qualify for the study and a transplant!!
Also 1 of the other treatments my husband had that worked great for slowing the growth of tumors is call Therasphere. He received 2 of these treatments at Mayo Clinic.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/liver-cancer/ http://www.mds.nordion.com/therasphere/default.asp
I don't know where you live, but it's worth a try to call one of the research hospitals. The contact numbers are on the web page I gave you.
Hope this helps. I will keep you in my prayers. If you need any more info, let me know.
Good Luck!!
Donna
Thank-you so much for your letter.
Thank you for replying to my message which was posted fairly late at night in a pretty desperate state of mind.
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