any one know about Radiofrequency ablation

insert clever name here

im new to cancer and it looks like this will be the first course of treatment,till transplant or what ever. i dont realy know much at this point,im looking for info on sides or risk's sounds simple but wondering just the same if any one has dont it,
thanks in advance for the help

Pennymac02

Time
RFA can buy time. It can control/kill the cancer to enable you long enough to be listed. My husband had two embolization treatments, both of them were bland because he had Hep C and cirrhosis to the point where the chemo would have made him too sick. The cancer was definitely controlled by these lifesaving techniques. Unfortunately his liver failed much more quickly than they expected and a donor liver was not found in time. He was diagnosed in July of 2010 and passed in January of this year.He was treated by the VA, and had very good care, they actually airlifted us to the transplant center in Richmond VA when he was wait-listed. Do lots of research, but don't get discouraged by it. Being informed makes you better able to participate in your own care.Increase your intake of egg whites to raise your albumin level, this will help decrease any ascites (hard boiled is good, but through away the yolks, they are too high in fat and protein). Take your lactulose faithfully to help control your ammonia level.

Never give up hope. A friend of ours who was in the same situation got a liver a week after my husband passed. He is now healthy, and the docs say the new liver is working like a twenty year olds. Good luck, and God bless.

insert clever name here

Pennymac02 said:

Time
RFA can buy time. It can control/kill the cancer to enable you long enough to be listed. My husband had two embolization treatments, both of them were bland because he had Hep C and cirrhosis to the point where the chemo would have made him too sick. The cancer was definitely controlled by these lifesaving techniques. Unfortunately his liver failed much more quickly than they expected and a donor liver was not found in time. He was diagnosed in July of 2010 and passed in January of this year.He was treated by the VA, and had very good care, they actually airlifted us to the transplant center in Richmond VA when he was wait-listed. Do lots of research, but don't get discouraged by it. Being informed makes you better able to participate in your own care.Increase your intake of egg whites to raise your albumin level, this will help decrease any ascites (hard boiled is good, but through away the yolks, they are too high in fat and protein). Take your lactulose faithfully to help control your ammonia level.

Never give up hope. A friend of ours who was in the same situation got a liver a week after my husband passed. He is now healthy, and the docs say the new liver is working like a twenty year olds. Good luck, and God bless.

thank you penny
first let me say im so sorry about your hubby passing.
i am in the same boat as your hubby with the hep-c and a trashed liver,but im doing ok other than the feeling like crap and being on ssdi not being able or unable to be the man i used to be.im sure i dont have to explain to you in detail what i mean in saying that,if ya dont mind me asking, did his liver fail because of the Radiofrequency ablation ? or was it more due to the hep-c, i have sean where some people with a trashed liver get Radiofrequency ablation done and it sometimes cause,s the liver to fail or start shuting down.so i quess what im asking is seeing im not doing that bad even with a trashed liver ( getting worst for sure ) is the risk of my liver shuting down worth risking haveing Radiofrequency ablation done,i know its a hard choice and one only i can make, but looking back at your hubby ect what would your thouts be on that,what shape was your hubby in before he had the Radiofrequency ablation done,thanks for your help and im so sorry for asking so much of you should it make you feel bad, rick

Pennymac02

insert clever name here said:

thank you penny
first let me say im so sorry about your hubby passing.
i am in the same boat as your hubby with the hep-c and a trashed liver,but im doing ok other than the feeling like crap and being on ssdi not being able or unable to be the man i used to be.im sure i dont have to explain to you in detail what i mean in saying that,if ya dont mind me asking, did his liver fail because of the Radiofrequency ablation ? or was it more due to the hep-c, i have sean where some people with a trashed liver get Radiofrequency ablation done and it sometimes cause,s the liver to fail or start shuting down.so i quess what im asking is seeing im not doing that bad even with a trashed liver ( getting worst for sure ) is the risk of my liver shuting down worth risking haveing Radiofrequency ablation done,i know its a hard choice and one only i can make, but looking back at your hubby ect what would your thouts be on that,what shape was your hubby in before he had the Radiofrequency ablation done,thanks for your help and im so sorry for asking so much of you should it make you feel bad, rick

RFA
Rick,
Wow, that's the six million dollar question. Kinda like what came first the chicken or the egg? His MELD score was in the 24-26 range before the embolization. They thought his liver was too stressed to handle the chemo. To be totally honest, a friend of mine from the Mayo transplant team advised strongly AGAINST any chemo being used; he said a lot of patients go down hill quickly because of the toxicity of the liver combined with the chemo. So we opted for the bland procedure (no chemo) and it didn't stop the cancer the first time. The second time they had to be very agressive vascularly to try and cut the blood supply to the cancer. That was on October 15. In November he spent more days in the hospital than out, and after Thanksgiving he turned bright yellow, went into liver failure, and when they checked his MELD score in December it was in the high 30's. He passed in January.

So, if they hadn't stopped the cancer, he wouldn't have been eligible for the transplant because of the cancer staging criteria. His liver probably would have limped along for a little while longer, but there would have been no hope for transplant. It was a calculated risk. As I said before, though. One of the couples I met in the same program had the same thing happen, but a match was found in time and he's living a good, healthy life.

My husbands health before all of this was okay. He was also on SSDI. Chronic fatigue, but he was able to ride his Harley at least once a week. Horrible nausea, which he was taking medicine for. But I had to be careful about foods I cooked and cleaning supplies I used because strong smells really affected him. The last few months he struggled with his ammonia level and got quite confused at times. And he had bouts of ascites where they tapped 5-6 liters of fluid from his abdomen three or four times. He had medicine for pain available, but used it sparingly because he was in Recovery for the last 23 years.

Looking back now, I see that he was probably feeling much sicker than he let on. I wouldn't change the path we took because it was what he wanted. Every day I'd go into his hospital room and ask, "Do you want to keep trying for the transplant?" and every day he'd say, "Yes, let's go for it" The day he passed, I went into his room and he said "I don't want to do this anymore." So the hospice nurse gave him the morphine he needed to be comfortable and he passed at 3:30pm that day.

Not to scare you, or to preach doom and gloom, but HCC prognosis without transplant is grim. I'd advise you to pray, marshall your forces, prepare to fight, and do whatever's neccessary to opt for transplant. If it's successful, it's worth it. If not, at least you and your loved ones have the peace of knowing you did everything you possibly could. PM me anytime. Good luck. My prayers are with you!
Penny

insert clever name here

Pennymac02 said:

RFA
Rick,
Wow, that's the six million dollar question. Kinda like what came first the chicken or the egg? His MELD score was in the 24-26 range before the embolization. They thought his liver was too stressed to handle the chemo. To be totally honest, a friend of mine from the Mayo transplant team advised strongly AGAINST any chemo being used; he said a lot of patients go down hill quickly because of the toxicity of the liver combined with the chemo. So we opted for the bland procedure (no chemo) and it didn't stop the cancer the first time. The second time they had to be very agressive vascularly to try and cut the blood supply to the cancer. That was on October 15. In November he spent more days in the hospital than out, and after Thanksgiving he turned bright yellow, went into liver failure, and when they checked his MELD score in December it was in the high 30's. He passed in January.

So, if they hadn't stopped the cancer, he wouldn't have been eligible for the transplant because of the cancer staging criteria. His liver probably would have limped along for a little while longer, but there would have been no hope for transplant. It was a calculated risk. As I said before, though. One of the couples I met in the same program had the same thing happen, but a match was found in time and he's living a good, healthy life.

My husbands health before all of this was okay. He was also on SSDI. Chronic fatigue, but he was able to ride his Harley at least once a week. Horrible nausea, which he was taking medicine for. But I had to be careful about foods I cooked and cleaning supplies I used because strong smells really affected him. The last few months he struggled with his ammonia level and got quite confused at times. And he had bouts of ascites where they tapped 5-6 liters of fluid from his abdomen three or four times. He had medicine for pain available, but used it sparingly because he was in Recovery for the last 23 years.

Looking back now, I see that he was probably feeling much sicker than he let on. I wouldn't change the path we took because it was what he wanted. Every day I'd go into his hospital room and ask, "Do you want to keep trying for the transplant?" and every day he'd say, "Yes, let's go for it" The day he passed, I went into his room and he said "I don't want to do this anymore." So the hospice nurse gave him the morphine he needed to be comfortable and he passed at 3:30pm that day.

Not to scare you, or to preach doom and gloom, but HCC prognosis without transplant is grim. I'd advise you to pray, marshall your forces, prepare to fight, and do whatever's neccessary to opt for transplant. If it's successful, it's worth it. If not, at least you and your loved ones have the peace of knowing you did everything you possibly could. PM me anytime. Good luck. My prayers are with you!
Penny

thanks again
i dont know what my meld score is but betwen both hep and liver cancer i can feel my self going down hill faster than normal. the past year has ben a tuff one as far as being sick.my reg med doc piccked up on it and ran some test and then sent me to an oc doc.he ran his test and a biopsey and now is sending me to a doc that does the Radiofrequency ablation,
chemo has never even ben brought up by the oc doc. i go the 13th to see the Radiofrequency ablation doc and go over all that stuff, then the 24th i think it is i go to meet the transplant team and that doctor. so im realy kind of lost in the middel right now.as for the fight i am ready for it and im determind to win. i may not like the path im must travel and some of the paths may scare the **** out of me, but i have to walk them paths because there is no other choice,and like you said the wife and kids will know i did my best and allso fought the battel as best i could. i quess the part that has me thinking the most is if i go in to liver failure during or right after the Radiofrequency ablation then it is a rush to find a liver and there wont be much time to wait,but on the other hand if ya want a liver you have to do the Radiofrequency ablation.to me thats a rock and a hard place if i ever heard one,allso haveing to start hep-c treatment again right after getting a new liver im dang sure not looking forward to. i have done two rounds of the interfuron crap all ready and my body took a beating from it,one was what they called old combo it was the very first treatment for hep-c.then i did the new and improved treatment, i killed the hep-c but relasped three months later,for me the not knowing and lack of control is a tuffy. but like with the hep-c and that shock back in 99 i will dig out my big boy panties and make the best of it. thank you so much for your help and willingness to share your storie with me, it is a great help to me,please dont feel bad about preaceing doom and gloom, i perfure hearing it strait up rather than candy coated, to be honest my wife is takeing it a lot worst than i am. if it is ok with you and you dont mind, i would like to stear her in to this site and to you. she has so many questions and no one to ask as to what to expect ect. she reads and reads and reads but that is not the same as getting it from some one who has ben there done that so to speak.she wants to and trys dang hard to take care of me the best she can.someone like you would be good for her, if you have the time or can help her of course.please dont feel like you have to, i dont mean to put you on the spot and if you cant i will more than under stand.i worry more about her than i do my self,she trys to be tuff but being with her for 32 years i can see its killing her, with the good lord willing im takeing what may be my last road trip on the bike in june,or at least the last one for a little bit any way.i love the mid west and rideing around down there in the mountins, if your in my travels i would like to buy ya a coffe or a dinner or find a way to thank you. by the way i am in CT and will be getting my Radiofrequency ablation and transplant done at yale new haven hospital.

thank you and god bless you

Pennymac02

insert clever name here said:

thanks again
i dont know what my meld score is but betwen both hep and liver cancer i can feel my self going down hill faster than normal. the past year has ben a tuff one as far as being sick.my reg med doc piccked up on it and ran some test and then sent me to an oc doc.he ran his test and a biopsey and now is sending me to a doc that does the Radiofrequency ablation,
chemo has never even ben brought up by the oc doc. i go the 13th to see the Radiofrequency ablation doc and go over all that stuff, then the 24th i think it is i go to meet the transplant team and that doctor. so im realy kind of lost in the middel right now.as for the fight i am ready for it and im determind to win. i may not like the path im must travel and some of the paths may scare the **** out of me, but i have to walk them paths because there is no other choice,and like you said the wife and kids will know i did my best and allso fought the battel as best i could. i quess the part that has me thinking the most is if i go in to liver failure during or right after the Radiofrequency ablation then it is a rush to find a liver and there wont be much time to wait,but on the other hand if ya want a liver you have to do the Radiofrequency ablation.to me thats a rock and a hard place if i ever heard one,allso haveing to start hep-c treatment again right after getting a new liver im dang sure not looking forward to. i have done two rounds of the interfuron crap all ready and my body took a beating from it,one was what they called old combo it was the very first treatment for hep-c.then i did the new and improved treatment, i killed the hep-c but relasped three months later,for me the not knowing and lack of control is a tuffy. but like with the hep-c and that shock back in 99 i will dig out my big boy panties and make the best of it. thank you so much for your help and willingness to share your storie with me, it is a great help to me,please dont feel bad about preaceing doom and gloom, i perfure hearing it strait up rather than candy coated, to be honest my wife is takeing it a lot worst than i am. if it is ok with you and you dont mind, i would like to stear her in to this site and to you. she has so many questions and no one to ask as to what to expect ect. she reads and reads and reads but that is not the same as getting it from some one who has ben there done that so to speak.she wants to and trys dang hard to take care of me the best she can.someone like you would be good for her, if you have the time or can help her of course.please dont feel like you have to, i dont mean to put you on the spot and if you cant i will more than under stand.i worry more about her than i do my self,she trys to be tuff but being with her for 32 years i can see its killing her, with the good lord willing im takeing what may be my last road trip on the bike in june,or at least the last one for a little bit any way.i love the mid west and rideing around down there in the mountins, if your in my travels i would like to buy ya a coffe or a dinner or find a way to thank you. by the way i am in CT and will be getting my Radiofrequency ablation and transplant done at yale new haven hospital.

thank you and god bless you

Rick
How are you doing?
Penny