husband diagnosed with gallbladder cancer

tinarn

hello,

My name is Tina. My husband was diagnosed with Stage IV gallbladder cancer in may of this year. It has spread to his liver and bones. This completely blindsided us. He had no symptoms at all. We were seen at Sloan Kettering and they were unable to operate. He has been on Gemzar and cisplatin. He has received 6 cycles and so far, his response has been great. Last pet scan showed hardly anything on bones and tumors much smaller on liver. This is completely overwhelming for us. You never expect anything like this. We have 3 children and it is quite difficult to deal with my own emotions as well as theres. Does anyone survive this? We were given such a bleak prognosis. I am thankful he is doing well. I would appreciate any words of encouragement or would love to hear if there is anyone who has survived this awful disease. God Bless

Lily50

Tina's husband
Hi Tina,

Welcome to these discussion boards. I'm so sorry that you and your husband are starting on this journey. I am a Stage IV gallbladder survivor diagnosed in 2005. I think that almost everyone on these boards feel that they were blindsided. Some people have no symptoms, slight symptoms, or major symptoms. A lot of people are diagnosed with this after they have surgery for the removal of gallstones. Do not dispair with the news of unable to operate, I too heard those words and what they really meant to say was just not yet. I did have surgery after 11 months of chemo (UCLA). The chemo cocktail that your husband is receiving is the same cocktail that I had. If you have had a pet scan that showed shrinkage that it a great thing. Sounds like your husband is a fighter and the wife and mother sometimes bears the burden of taking care of everyone. You need to try and take care of yourself at the same time. I know that what I have said is easy to say but hard to do. This is such a terrible disease but for me and my family Hope & Faith carried us through. If you get a chance check out the discussion board Gallbladder Cancer Stage IV, a lot of us post there no matter what stage the cancer is. If you could tell us where you are located (NY?) you might even find someone in your are to speak with.
If you don't like to talk on public forums you can email me at LGregg6293@Aol.Com, just put ACS-CSN in the subject line so it doesn't go to spam.

Take Care
Lily

westie66

Husband diagnosed with gallbladder cancer
Hi Tina: I agree wholeheartedly with my friend Lily. I was diagnosed with Stage IV gallbladder cancer officially in April 2010 when my gallbladder (and its cancer that had protruded into the adjacent liver) was removed during a laparoscopic surgery. I also had/have several nodules of malignant cancer that spread from that site to the omentum tissue (upper intestine). I, too, had no symptoms except an elevated liver enzyme count which led to the surgery. I am now on chemo (same regime your husband and Lily have/had: cisplatin and gemitibine on a 3 week cycle (2 weeks "on", 1 week "off"). After the first treatment my white blood cell count dropped so now I have to have 10 daily injections to get it up again. This is fairly common in this treatment so make sure your husband is careful about all things to avoid infection. Anyways, take heart - there are many of us out there who are surviving this baddie. Sure they told me the same thing but hey I'm about to beat the odds (and the odds are old news anyways - a program on our CBC CAnada talked about the increasing rates of success in beating cancer these days with new techniques and drugs). I'm still teaching at the university and feel great doing it. I have a good team of oncology folks and a lot of good caring friends. If you want to chat, my email is cpearce@uwo.ca. Take care.
Cheryl

tinarn

westie66 said:

Husband diagnosed with gallbladder cancer
Hi Tina: I agree wholeheartedly with my friend Lily. I was diagnosed with Stage IV gallbladder cancer officially in April 2010 when my gallbladder (and its cancer that had protruded into the adjacent liver) was removed during a laparoscopic surgery. I also had/have several nodules of malignant cancer that spread from that site to the omentum tissue (upper intestine). I, too, had no symptoms except an elevated liver enzyme count which led to the surgery. I am now on chemo (same regime your husband and Lily have/had: cisplatin and gemitibine on a 3 week cycle (2 weeks "on", 1 week "off"). After the first treatment my white blood cell count dropped so now I have to have 10 daily injections to get it up again. This is fairly common in this treatment so make sure your husband is careful about all things to avoid infection. Anyways, take heart - there are many of us out there who are surviving this baddie. Sure they told me the same thing but hey I'm about to beat the odds (and the odds are old news anyways - a program on our CBC CAnada talked about the increasing rates of success in beating cancer these days with new techniques and drugs). I'm still teaching at the university and feel great doing it. I have a good team of oncology folks and a lot of good caring friends. If you want to chat, my email is cpearce@uwo.ca. Take care.
Cheryl

my husband
Thank you Cheryl and Lily.

I feel at least there is some hope out there. As I posted earlier, so far his response has been great. The chemo seems to be doing its job. Of course, I worry about every little ache and pain. I guess that comes with the territory.You two are such an inspiration and I am very thankful that I found this site. God Bless Tina. I would love to chat. my email is jssevans@comcast.net

Lily50

tinarn said:

my husband
Thank you Cheryl and Lily.

I feel at least there is some hope out there. As I posted earlier, so far his response has been great. The chemo seems to be doing its job. Of course, I worry about every little ache and pain. I guess that comes with the territory.You two are such an inspiration and I am very thankful that I found this site. God Bless Tina. I would love to chat. my email is jssevans@comcast.net

Your Husband
Hi Tina,

There is always hope and you should never let the bad days get you down. Positive thoughts are necessary for this disease. I'm glad that his response to treatment is successful. You have every right to worry about every little ache and pain. Like you said before it comes with the territory and will become a minor annoyance in your life.
There are quite a few of us that are out there who have been through what your husband is going through and we just want to support both you and him.

It is a beautiful day and I'm taking my dogs on a walk in the sunshine.

My email address is LGregg6293@Aol.Com.

Take Care
Lily