my mom just had surgery

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catyandrei
catyandrei Member Posts: 1
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
My mom was diagnosed with colon cancer with liver metastasis in June 2009. She had a colon resection and today she had a surgery on her liver to remove the tumors. I was wondering how painful, and how long is the recovery from this type of surgery. I am extremely scared for her because she had gone through chemo also and not feeling too good. Also does anyone knows what happens if they discover tumors somewhere else in the body? Would it mean that this surgery was a mistake?

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  • Sundanceh
    Sundanceh Member Posts: 4,392 Member
    #2
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    Hi CATY :)
    An open liver resection will be rough for about 10-12 weeks out, due to the incision and the scar tissue, muscles cut etc.etc. From there, just TIME and Mother Nature will continue to heal. I was originally to do a liver resection so they opened me but could not do it, so we did RFA instead. It's been since Dec2007 and I'm just now able to move or bend to the right without as much pain - I'm trying to get in some kind of shape now by walking to see if that helps further.

    And nobody knows if Cancer will spread - the surgeons think the surgery is a good idea, so to be able to get out what they know is a very good thing indeed.

    The other thing is that your Mom will be closely monitored now with regular scans and follow-ups, so if there is evidence of Cancer going somewhere else...the doctors will be on top of it, which is also a very good thing.

    After the surgery, they will probably have her do more chemo, for just the reason you stated above - what if it spreads? The action plan would be to give her X amount of chemo systemically in order to try and snuff out any rogue cancer cells before they can land somewhere and start up again.

    I'm so sorry your Mom is involved with this - all of us or have been at one time or another. We all understand what you are going through and will be here for you - just ask anything you need or have a question on.

    Welcome to the Board - the finest people in the world "live here" and will be more than happy to help you and tell you what you need to do.

    I'll start by wishing you the best of luck and please keep us posted.

    Very nice to meet you BTW :)

    -Craig
  • Shayenne
    Shayenne Member Posts: 2,342
    #3
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    Sundanceh said:

    Hi CATY :)
    An open liver resection will be rough for about 10-12 weeks out, due to the incision and the scar tissue, muscles cut etc.etc. From there, just TIME and Mother Nature will continue to heal. I was originally to do a liver resection so they opened me but could not do it, so we did RFA instead. It's been since Dec2007 and I'm just now able to move or bend to the right without as much pain - I'm trying to get in some kind of shape now by walking to see if that helps further.

    And nobody knows if Cancer will spread - the surgeons think the surgery is a good idea, so to be able to get out what they know is a very good thing indeed.

    The other thing is that your Mom will be closely monitored now with regular scans and follow-ups, so if there is evidence of Cancer going somewhere else...the doctors will be on top of it, which is also a very good thing.

    After the surgery, they will probably have her do more chemo, for just the reason you stated above - what if it spreads? The action plan would be to give her X amount of chemo systemically in order to try and snuff out any rogue cancer cells before they can land somewhere and start up again.

    I'm so sorry your Mom is involved with this - all of us or have been at one time or another. We all understand what you are going through and will be here for you - just ask anything you need or have a question on.

    Welcome to the Board - the finest people in the world "live here" and will be more than happy to help you and tell you what you need to do.

    I'll start by wishing you the best of luck and please keep us posted.

    Very nice to meet you BTW :)

    -Craig

    Hi Caty!
    I'm just here to give you shoulder to cry whenever you need it, and some support for you and your mom.

    You sound like a wonderful, caring daughter, it's hard to watch people going through, especially your mom, but glad she has people there to care for her. I have never had a liver resection, though the tumors are still shrinking in me, I don't even think I'm a candidate for surgery.

    But from what I hear, it is a pretty painful recuperation, I've had abdominal surgery, and the incision was so deep, It still feels weird, like a numbness, and sometimes still some pain, and I got that getting a colostomy back in March I think it was, mine was a 4-6 week recovery time, but I tool longer to heal then that.

    I hope she gets better quickly, keep her walking, and she'll heal faster from what I was told as well. Hope all goes well!

    Hugsss!
    ~Donna

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