Ampullary Cancer

jaheath

My husband received a diagnosis two weeks ago. He had the Whipple surgery Tuesday. 6 lymph nodes were tested and one node was cancerous. What will the next steps be? He will be 55 in a couple of weeks.

RayLogu

ampullary cancer
I had whipple in May for ampullary cancer and also had one lymph node test postive for cancer, it was the regional node. I've been through 6 weeks of Xeloda (oral chemo) and radiation to clear up microscopic cancer cells that may have lingered from the surgery .
I am 77 and in oterhwise good health. The margins of my tumor and the lymph nodes were negative at time of surgery which is very good. I had some complications 3 weeks into the Xeloda and took only 70% of the Xeloda and completed the radiation.
One thing I would stress is to have your heart checked prior to chemo/radiation and during and after. I developed calcification of the aortic valve during the time of treatment.
Fortunate it is mild and I'm not having symptoms, but the treatments are hard on your organs. 4 1/2 months since surgery and 4 weeks since stopping treatments and I am feeling the best I've felt since March (prior to surgery). Keep close records of all symptoms/side effects during treatments, this assists docs in regulating dosage. My doc told my wife she was the "Gestapo" she kept such good notes to provide with each visit.
He said that after she told him I had instructions not to brush or flush without her knowing what is going on, since Xeloda causes mouth sores and possible blood in stool (which I did have).
My best to you, if I can share any thing else with you or if you have any questions about my recovery feel free to ask.

my personal email is: topnotchplus@yahoo.com
regards, Ray / North Carolina