Theraspheres Last Thursday

Marauders99 said:

Hi Donna,
I've heard it
Hi Donna,
I've heard it referred to by a number of different names. There are two brands as far as I can tell, SirSpheres and Theraspheres. It is also referred to as SIR (Selective Internal Radiation) and I've heard the term radiospheres.

First, you get a pre-procedure work up, mine was about a month before where they go in through your femoral artery and and do what the doctor called embolization on the liver. Basically they cut off the connection of blood supply from the liver to other organs so the liver is isolated when you get the Spheres. I was awake for the procedure, though under anesthesia and it was painless. The doctor kept telling me to take a deep breath and hold it while he performed each closure. It was a outpatient procedure. The kept me in recovery lying fat on my back for two hours to make sure the femoral artery was completely closed before sending me home. This was on a Thursday and I was completely fine the next day and enjoyed the weekend as if I hadn't had a procedure.

Next: chemo - I had to stop chemo a month before the Therasphere procedure and am supposed to wait a month following the procedure before I resume. My oncologist said we he might recommend I take a longer break from chemo if I CEA declines, but I'm skeptical. I'd rather keep hitting this thing hard.

That bring us to the procedure itself. I was in at 7 and out by 3. The procedure is virtually identical to the embolization with the exception that they are injecting the beads rather than closing of the blood supplies. Its actually supposed to go quicker than the emobolization. There was all kinds of people in the OR in addition to the regular staff including a radiation physicist who handled the beads and a radiation oncologist to oversee the procedure. I asked the see the machine and it was just a little, transparent box about the size of a Kleenex box with what looked like a pump mechanism inside.

The doctor warmed me before the procedure that 2 of 3 people who receive the treatment feel nothing when the beads are injected, 1 of 3 people experience extreme pain as soon as the bead are introduced. I was in the "1 in 3". I've got to say, it hurt pretty bad directly in my liver. I told them immediately, they gave me some extra pain medication and I was out for the rest of the procedure. When I woke up in recover there was no pain at all. So that was an unfavorable part of the procedure, but it worked out.

From there I headed "home" to my brothers house about 15 minutes away. Sorry for the graphic description, but this was my experience. I vomited 5 times from the time I got home around 4 until I went to bed around 9. After that, there was no more nausea. Day 1 and Day 2 post-op I felt extreme fatigue. I would describe that as being so wiped out I could barely get off the couch, but there was no pain involved. By day 3 post-op I was feeling better, Day 4 post-op even better, up and around and out of the house. Day-5 post-op feeling almost normal, no longer napping during the day and Day-6 post-op traveled home to NH. Today, Day-7 post-op I'm feeling pretty good.

The Doc told me that I'll have a follow-up CT scan in 2 or 3 months to monitor the progress.

Feel free to contact me any time with questions!

Scott