TheraSpheres/Y=90

slg
slg Member Posts: 200
edited March 2014 in Liver Cancer #1
Has anyone out there had this treatment for their Liver tumors? If so, how were the results? any side effects?
«1

Comments

  • imjb73
    imjb73 Member Posts: 34
    #2
    Y90
    My husband had one done a couple months ago and had another today. He has been extra tired. And had a bad taste in his mouth for a while. Things don't taste right and he has lost some of his appetite. They have done one scan since the first implant and said it looked smaller but it was really too soon to tell. He will be rescanned in about another six weeks and we will see what the results are. I wish I could be more help to you but it's too soon for us to know for sure what the outcome will be.
  • slg
    slg Member Posts: 200
    #3
    imjb73 said:

    Y90
    My husband had one done a couple months ago and had another today. He has been extra tired. And had a bad taste in his mouth for a while. Things don't taste right and he has lost some of his appetite. They have done one scan since the first implant and said it looked smaller but it was really too soon to tell. He will be rescanned in about another six weeks and we will see what the results are. I wish I could be more help to you but it's too soon for us to know for sure what the outcome will be.

    Therasphere treatment
    Hi,

    Thanks for your input. I hope this treatment works for your husband. Keep me posted. Where did he have it done?
    We are still waiting to hear if the doctors want to proceed and do this treatment to get my husband back into criteria for transplant.
    Is you husband needing a transplant?
  • Tina Blondek
    Tina Blondek Member Posts: 1,500 Member
    #4
    slg said:

    Therasphere treatment
    Hi,

    Thanks for your input. I hope this treatment works for your husband. Keep me posted. Where did he have it done?
    We are still waiting to hear if the doctors want to proceed and do this treatment to get my husband back into criteria for transplant.
    Is you husband needing a transplant?

    Hello Slg
    Yes, I know of a
    Hello Slg
    Yes, I know of a couple here whose husband had this treatment done. I am just having trouble remembering their names. Jim and Linda come to mind, but not sure. Jim and Sally maybe. Hope someone comes to our rescue! I will check back in a few days and see how you are making out with your search.
    Tina in Va
  • dandickinson33
    dandickinson33 Member Posts: 2
    #5
    Y90
    Y90 is magic stuff. The web site of the manufacture is at:

    http://www.nordion.com/

    When I talked to the manufacture, they said the folks with the most experience were at Northwestern University in Chicago. I had the proceedure with zero side-effects. It was over a year ago and it killed the cancer. I outlined it all on my blog.



    http://flyme33.wordpress.com/

    Good luck...
  • imjb73
    imjb73 Member Posts: 34
    #6
    slg said:

    Therasphere treatment
    Hi,

    Thanks for your input. I hope this treatment works for your husband. Keep me posted. Where did he have it done?
    We are still waiting to hear if the doctors want to proceed and do this treatment to get my husband back into criteria for transplant.
    Is you husband needing a transplant?

    yes he needs a transplant
    I thought I posted a reply yesterday but I don't see it. So I will reply again just in case. Indiana University Hospital is where he is going. He needs a transplant but the tumors are too large and too many. The Y90 is the treatment being used to try to shrink/kill the cancer enough for him to be qualify for a liver transplant.
  • Pennymac02
    Pennymac02 Member Posts: 332 Member
    #7
    Bland Embolization
    My husband had three bland embolizations. His liver was already too sick to handle any chemo by the time they started treatment. His HCC was very agressive, tho, so on the third embolization they were very agressive in cutting off the blood supply to the largest tumor in order that he's meet the criteria for transplant.

    The treatment worked in that it stopped the cancer from spreading and growing, but the liver went into failure because they also stopped the blood flow to the small amount of healthy liver tissue he had left. After the last embolization at the end of October he was hospitalized numerous times, then in November he went into the hospital, was airlifted to Richmond for the VCU transplant center, and he made the list for only one week before he developed and infection and passed away on January 14th.

    I don't remember anyone telling us that the treatment would send him into liver failure. They probably did, but I was in such a state of sleep deprivation and shock, that I didn't hear it. Either way, his only hope was to be able to get a transplant, and he passed while on the waiting list. Sorry to be the bearer of such doom and gloom.
  • slg
    slg Member Posts: 200
    #8
    dandickinson33 said:

    Y90
    Y90 is magic stuff. The web site of the manufacture is at:

    http://www.nordion.com/

    When I talked to the manufacture, they said the folks with the most experience were at Northwestern University in Chicago. I had the proceedure with zero side-effects. It was over a year ago and it killed the cancer. I outlined it all on my blog.



    http://flyme33.wordpress.com/

    Good luck...

    Dan Dickinson
    Hi Dan,
    Wow, it is so encouraging to finally get some feedback and positive information. My husband and I would very much like to stay in contact and I need to know more. I am reading your Blog but have a lot of catching up to do.
    So when were you diagnosed, 2009? And when did you have the treatment? and when was your transplant.
    I assume all were done at Northwestern. We live in California but will be going to Kansas City to the University of Kansas Medical Center for the transplant. My husband has one too many tumors for criteria and was put on hold so we REALLY want this treatment to work so he can have his transplant in the next few months.
    My email is slg72@aol.com. I will continue reading your blog and am sure my questions will be answered but it will take some time to catch up and thought maybe you could answer those few questions more quickly than my reading.
    Thanks and congratulations on your second chance!!!
    SLG
  • slg
    slg Member Posts: 200
    #9
    Update on Therasphere y/90
    Update! Since my husband's CT scan almont one month ago we finally got approval for a Therasphere procedure to treat his new tumors.
    It is beyond me as to why everything takes so long. We are grateful that we finally have a date for part 1.
  • imjb73
    imjb73 Member Posts: 34
    #10
    slg said:

    Update on Therasphere y/90
    Update! Since my husband's CT scan almont one month ago we finally got approval for a Therasphere procedure to treat his new tumors.
    It is beyond me as to why everything takes so long. We are grateful that we finally have a date for part 1.

    That's great!
    I'm glad you have a date for it.We were told it would be a fight to get insurance approval. It did happen though. Now they have denied to cover the pet scan. They said it wasn't needed. They just keep us jumping through hoops. I also wanted to let you know the 2nd treatment has really knocked my husband down this time. I'm not sure exactly how much is from the implant or just the disease itself. But he isn't bouncing back as well this time. Some of it like being tired is expected. He hasn't been eating much and having trouble keeping the bad taste out of his mouth.
    Wishing you GOOD LUCK!!!
  • slg
    slg Member Posts: 200
    #11
    imjb73 said:

    That's great!
    I'm glad you have a date for it.We were told it would be a fight to get insurance approval. It did happen though. Now they have denied to cover the pet scan. They said it wasn't needed. They just keep us jumping through hoops. I also wanted to let you know the 2nd treatment has really knocked my husband down this time. I'm not sure exactly how much is from the implant or just the disease itself. But he isn't bouncing back as well this time. Some of it like being tired is expected. He hasn't been eating much and having trouble keeping the bad taste out of his mouth.
    Wishing you GOOD LUCK!!!

    imjb73
    Hi,
    Would like to hear more about your husbands tumors and treatment. How many tumors did he have; when was he diagnosed?; is he on the transplant list yet?
    We have been participating in a support group for transplant patients. They talked about the taste issues and said that salsa helps make food taste better. have your husband try that.
    You can email me at slg72@aol.com.
    Thanks for sharing your information.
    SLG
  • slg
    slg Member Posts: 200
    #12
    slg said:

    imjb73
    Hi,
    Would like to hear more about your husbands tumors and treatment. How many tumors did he have; when was he diagnosed?; is he on the transplant list yet?
    We have been participating in a support group for transplant patients. They talked about the taste issues and said that salsa helps make food taste better. have your husband try that.
    You can email me at slg72@aol.com.
    Thanks for sharing your information.
    SLG

    Update on Therasphere
    Today my husband had his regular appointment with his hepagologist. We got some encouraging information from him.
    After next week's angiogram with the radiologist he could schedule the Therasphere procedure as soon as two weeks later. That is what we are hoping. With all the research I have done on this procedure it could be done in anywhere from 2-6 weeks! So if it happens in two weeks we will be very happy. We have to get through next week and make sure they can do the Therasphere procedure. His Doctor seems to think there should not be any reason they won't be able to.
    Then the waiting will begin. The Dr. at CPMC is going to talk to the KUMED Doctor about the followup CT scan and see if it's really necessary to wait 3 months. We are hoping he will relax his decision on that and hoping Paul will be back to active on the transplant list soon after the CT scan.
    This is our only hope that he gets the transplant!!!
  • kohsin
    kohsin Member Posts: 29 Member
    #13
    slg said:

    Update on Therasphere
    Today my husband had his regular appointment with his hepagologist. We got some encouraging information from him.
    After next week's angiogram with the radiologist he could schedule the Therasphere procedure as soon as two weeks later. That is what we are hoping. With all the research I have done on this procedure it could be done in anywhere from 2-6 weeks! So if it happens in two weeks we will be very happy. We have to get through next week and make sure they can do the Therasphere procedure. His Doctor seems to think there should not be any reason they won't be able to.
    Then the waiting will begin. The Dr. at CPMC is going to talk to the KUMED Doctor about the followup CT scan and see if it's really necessary to wait 3 months. We are hoping he will relax his decision on that and hoping Paul will be back to active on the transplant list soon after the CT scan.
    This is our only hope that he gets the transplant!!!

    My first anniversary
    I am happy to say that my Y-90 treatment prior to my resection (9 cm) helped a lot. No obvious side effect, only 2 weeks after the treatment and the tumor reduced by 2cm. The surgery was as good as it can be. This was Feb 2010. Good stuff and good luck to all
  • rwp1958
    rwp1958 Member Posts: 2
    #14
    dandickinson33 said:

    Y90
    Y90 is magic stuff. The web site of the manufacture is at:

    http://www.nordion.com/

    When I talked to the manufacture, they said the folks with the most experience were at Northwestern University in Chicago. I had the proceedure with zero side-effects. It was over a year ago and it killed the cancer. I outlined it all on my blog.



    http://flyme33.wordpress.com/

    Good luck...

    Y90
    How did you get referred to the Y90 procedure?

    I have portal hypertension of the liver and 2/3rd's of my liver has already been removed. I have 2 tumors left on my liver and no way to treat them due to extreme low platelets.

    Thanks
    Randy
  • imjb73
    imjb73 Member Posts: 34
    #15
    slg said:

    Update on Therasphere
    Today my husband had his regular appointment with his hepagologist. We got some encouraging information from him.
    After next week's angiogram with the radiologist he could schedule the Therasphere procedure as soon as two weeks later. That is what we are hoping. With all the research I have done on this procedure it could be done in anywhere from 2-6 weeks! So if it happens in two weeks we will be very happy. We have to get through next week and make sure they can do the Therasphere procedure. His Doctor seems to think there should not be any reason they won't be able to.
    Then the waiting will begin. The Dr. at CPMC is going to talk to the KUMED Doctor about the followup CT scan and see if it's really necessary to wait 3 months. We are hoping he will relax his decision on that and hoping Paul will be back to active on the transplant list soon after the CT scan.
    This is our only hope that he gets the transplant!!!

    The doctor gave us hope
    We got good news today. The treatment seems to be working. His cancer markers have dropped almost in half and what was lots of white on the scan is now small spots. He is anemic and his albumin level is low. Nutrition is being suggested. Eat healthy and add ensure, boost etc. This is the best news we could get at this point. Don't know yet if they will do a lung biopsy. He might qualify to get on the transplant list soon. This is a big improvement from him being in the hospital and non responsive a week and a half ago.
    The doctor gave us hope today.
  • slg
    slg Member Posts: 200
    #16
    imjb73 said:

    The doctor gave us hope
    We got good news today. The treatment seems to be working. His cancer markers have dropped almost in half and what was lots of white on the scan is now small spots. He is anemic and his albumin level is low. Nutrition is being suggested. Eat healthy and add ensure, boost etc. This is the best news we could get at this point. Don't know yet if they will do a lung biopsy. He might qualify to get on the transplant list soon. This is a big improvement from him being in the hospital and non responsive a week and a half ago.
    The doctor gave us hope today.

    lmjb73
    So glad you got some good news. Good news is always good!!! We also have some. Yesterday was the first part of the two part Y-90 procedure for my husband. We are waiting to hear when the Y-90 procedure will be. Just found out this week that someone who had the Y-90 over a year ago finally got his liver transplant this week. He is our inspiration!!! We look forward to being there too, soon, we hope!!! and hope that you will be there soon too. It's always good when the lab numbers go down. Keep in touch!
  • imjb73
    imjb73 Member Posts: 34
    #17
    slg said:

    lmjb73
    So glad you got some good news. Good news is always good!!! We also have some. Yesterday was the first part of the two part Y-90 procedure for my husband. We are waiting to hear when the Y-90 procedure will be. Just found out this week that someone who had the Y-90 over a year ago finally got his liver transplant this week. He is our inspiration!!! We look forward to being there too, soon, we hope!!! and hope that you will be there soon too. It's always good when the lab numbers go down. Keep in touch!

    treatments
    I don't know how often these treatments are done but my husband has had 2 so far. But when the doctor came in yesterday to talk with us we found out he had done 3 yesterday as well as seeing patients. I guess he had so much going on yesterday they had to reschedule some appointments. He is a busy man but in giving us our news yesterday he was like a different person. I guess that's good. I can't imagine having to tell people the worst of things so much. He is a tad arrogant. Says he's the best. I want the best so he can act how he wants to if he can help. The doctor I seemed to like the most through all this so far is the one that told us 2 different times there was no cancer. So bedside manner is important but only to a point. Happy for you that the first part is over. They usually do the second part within a couple weeks. Keep us posted.
  • dlaarndt
    dlaarndt Member Posts: 6
    #18
    imjb73 said:

    Y90
    My husband had one done a couple months ago and had another today. He has been extra tired. And had a bad taste in his mouth for a while. Things don't taste right and he has lost some of his appetite. They have done one scan since the first implant and said it looked smaller but it was really too soon to tell. He will be rescanned in about another six weeks and we will see what the results are. I wish I could be more help to you but it's too soon for us to know for sure what the outcome will be.

    Y90
    My husband had the Y90 to the right side of his liver after he could no longer get any further treatments because his count was too low. He then some how fell through the cracks and was suppose to have the other side done in four or five weeks. His first was 2-7-2011 then this past week he had a CT scan and found that the tumor had gotten larger - which they dont know if the spheres inflammed the tumor or it really grew, he also had spots on his lungs which got bigger. He starts chemo again this week. Has anyone had side affects like his..He has had cold systems since the spheres which he went to the doctor for. He was sick to his stomach since and takes pills daily. He also has had a low grade fever. I did do some research on the internet and they do say the liver can enlarge and the CEA can spike which his went from 224 to 842. Any information is greatly appreaciated..
  • slg
    slg Member Posts: 200
    #19
    dlaarndt said:

    Y90
    My husband had the Y90 to the right side of his liver after he could no longer get any further treatments because his count was too low. He then some how fell through the cracks and was suppose to have the other side done in four or five weeks. His first was 2-7-2011 then this past week he had a CT scan and found that the tumor had gotten larger - which they dont know if the spheres inflammed the tumor or it really grew, he also had spots on his lungs which got bigger. He starts chemo again this week. Has anyone had side affects like his..He has had cold systems since the spheres which he went to the doctor for. He was sick to his stomach since and takes pills daily. He also has had a low grade fever. I did do some research on the internet and they do say the liver can enlarge and the CEA can spike which his went from 224 to 842. Any information is greatly appreaciated..

    dlaarndt
    Well, can't say that's encouraging. I was hoping for more positive information. Hope your husband pulls through.
  • slg
    slg Member Posts: 200
    #20
    imjb73 said:

    treatments
    I don't know how often these treatments are done but my husband has had 2 so far. But when the doctor came in yesterday to talk with us we found out he had done 3 yesterday as well as seeing patients. I guess he had so much going on yesterday they had to reschedule some appointments. He is a busy man but in giving us our news yesterday he was like a different person. I guess that's good. I can't imagine having to tell people the worst of things so much. He is a tad arrogant. Says he's the best. I want the best so he can act how he wants to if he can help. The doctor I seemed to like the most through all this so far is the one that told us 2 different times there was no cancer. So bedside manner is important but only to a point. Happy for you that the first part is over. They usually do the second part within a couple weeks. Keep us posted.

    Y-90
    Y-90 was performed Wednesday and it appears all went well. So far the only side effect is tiredness but then he has been tired all along with the Nexavar. We are hoping that this does the trick and he will be back active on the list in 3 months and then we can get on that plane to Kansas.
    Tha waiting is very hard but I think we have gotten pretty good at it.
  • lindaprocopio
    lindaprocopio Member Posts: 1,980 Member
    #21
    slg said:

    Y-90
    Y-90 was performed Wednesday and it appears all went well. So far the only side effect is tiredness but then he has been tired all along with the Nexavar. We are hoping that this does the trick and he will be back active on the list in 3 months and then we can get on that plane to Kansas.
    Tha waiting is very hard but I think we have gotten pretty good at it.

    I had Y-90 SIR-Spheres for mets to the liver from uterine cancer
    Just wanted to post that I would strongly recommend anyone with cancer in their liver to at least explore radioembolism. I had the right side of my liver 'radioemboloized' June 1st. Yesterday I had preliminary blood labs and CT-scan liver study. The early feedback on my scan and labs was VERY encouraging.

    The tumor progression marker for my type of cancer is CA125. My CA125 dropped by over HALF, comparing the labs taken just before the radioembolism to the labs I had yesterday. & although it is really too early to tell too much from a CT-scan, the radiation interventionist said that the right side of my liver is "improved" and the left side is stable. I will be getting the left side of my liver radioembolized in mid-August, as we are working around my vacation & the surgeon's.

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