Linda -- Congrats - Please make a new thread for "embolization"

lindaprocopio said:

For newcomers, I try to keep things on the same thread.
I make it a habit to find the old post thread and add updates to it because I like to think of this Board as a resource for the ladies that will come after us. If someone is researching radioembolism, I want them to be able to follow my whole experience with it, from beginning to end, in one place.

Thursday I have labs at 8 am and my 'mapping' to see if I am a candidate anatomically for the radioembolism. I found this post on a blog about what the mapping will be like:

"You will be asked not to eat for a specific amount of time before your evaluation. You will bring labwork and recent scans for review. You will be prepped for the procedure and your interventional radiologist will make a tiny incision in your leg and carefully place a small but long, flexible plastic tube called a catheter into the femoral artery (which is the major blood vessel in the leg). He/she will use an x-ray that allows him to view the inside of the body on the screen as he guides the catheter through the blood vessels to the hepatic artery (which is one of two blood vessels that feed the liver). He will ease the tube into the branch of the hepatic artery that feeds the cancerous tumor(s) in your liver. This process will ensure that the microspheres are going to be distributed appropriately. It will also indicate whether or not they will be likely to go into areas that could be dangerous - such as the lung or abdominal cavity. Sometimes blood flow will have to be redirected. You will be awake for the procedure and can even watch the monitors if you so choose. You may feel some pressure but should not feel pain. Once the procedure is complete, the catheter will be carefully removed and pressure will be applied to the incision. You will have to lie flat for several hours to ensure that bleeding does not occur. If all goes well and Yttrium 90 Microspheres therapy is possible, then a date for the procedure will be set and you should be able to return home shortly after the evaluation."

denyingarea said:

Congrats - I hope this treatment keeps falling into place!
This is very exciting news! The science of this is a little over my head, but I'm sending you positive energy on passing this "mapping" test.

(And I appreciate your efforts to keep topics threaded together. I have the hardest time navigating this website. Does it allow us to put intrasite links in these threads? I.E., to go back on the old thread and put a post saying "Continues at ~link to new thread~")

lindaprocopio said:

For newcomers, I try to keep things on the same thread.
I make it a habit to find the old post thread and add updates to it because I like to think of this Board as a resource for the ladies that will come after us. If someone is researching radioembolism, I want them to be able to follow my whole experience with it, from beginning to end, in one place.

Thursday I have labs at 8 am and my 'mapping' to see if I am a candidate anatomically for the radioembolism. I found this post on a blog about what the mapping will be like:

"You will be asked not to eat for a specific amount of time before your evaluation. You will bring labwork and recent scans for review. You will be prepped for the procedure and your interventional radiologist will make a tiny incision in your leg and carefully place a small but long, flexible plastic tube called a catheter into the femoral artery (which is the major blood vessel in the leg). He/she will use an x-ray that allows him to view the inside of the body on the screen as he guides the catheter through the blood vessels to the hepatic artery (which is one of two blood vessels that feed the liver). He will ease the tube into the branch of the hepatic artery that feeds the cancerous tumor(s) in your liver. This process will ensure that the microspheres are going to be distributed appropriately. It will also indicate whether or not they will be likely to go into areas that could be dangerous - such as the lung or abdominal cavity. Sometimes blood flow will have to be redirected. You will be awake for the procedure and can even watch the monitors if you so choose. You may feel some pressure but should not feel pain. Once the procedure is complete, the catheter will be carefully removed and pressure will be applied to the incision. You will have to lie flat for several hours to ensure that bleeding does not occur. If all goes well and Yttrium 90 Microspheres therapy is possible, then a date for the procedure will be set and you should be able to return home shortly after the evaluation."

lindaprocopio said:

For newcomers, I try to keep things on the same thread.
I make it a habit to find the old post thread and add updates to it because I like to think of this Board as a resource for the ladies that will come after us. If someone is researching radioembolism, I want them to be able to follow my whole experience with it, from beginning to end, in one place.

Thursday I have labs at 8 am and my 'mapping' to see if I am a candidate anatomically for the radioembolism. I found this post on a blog about what the mapping will be like:

"You will be asked not to eat for a specific amount of time before your evaluation. You will bring labwork and recent scans for review. You will be prepped for the procedure and your interventional radiologist will make a tiny incision in your leg and carefully place a small but long, flexible plastic tube called a catheter into the femoral artery (which is the major blood vessel in the leg). He/she will use an x-ray that allows him to view the inside of the body on the screen as he guides the catheter through the blood vessels to the hepatic artery (which is one of two blood vessels that feed the liver). He will ease the tube into the branch of the hepatic artery that feeds the cancerous tumor(s) in your liver. This process will ensure that the microspheres are going to be distributed appropriately. It will also indicate whether or not they will be likely to go into areas that could be dangerous - such as the lung or abdominal cavity. Sometimes blood flow will have to be redirected. You will be awake for the procedure and can even watch the monitors if you so choose. You may feel some pressure but should not feel pain. Once the procedure is complete, the catheter will be carefully removed and pressure will be applied to the incision. You will have to lie flat for several hours to ensure that bleeding does not occur. If all goes well and Yttrium 90 Microspheres therapy is possible, then a date for the procedure will be set and you should be able to return home shortly after the evaluation."

lindaprocopio said:

For newcomers, I try to keep things on the same thread.
I make it a habit to find the old post thread and add updates to it because I like to think of this Board as a resource for the ladies that will come after us. If someone is researching radioembolism, I want them to be able to follow my whole experience with it, from beginning to end, in one place.

Thursday I have labs at 8 am and my 'mapping' to see if I am a candidate anatomically for the radioembolism. I found this post on a blog about what the mapping will be like:

"You will be asked not to eat for a specific amount of time before your evaluation. You will bring labwork and recent scans for review. You will be prepped for the procedure and your interventional radiologist will make a tiny incision in your leg and carefully place a small but long, flexible plastic tube called a catheter into the femoral artery (which is the major blood vessel in the leg). He/she will use an x-ray that allows him to view the inside of the body on the screen as he guides the catheter through the blood vessels to the hepatic artery (which is one of two blood vessels that feed the liver). He will ease the tube into the branch of the hepatic artery that feeds the cancerous tumor(s) in your liver. This process will ensure that the microspheres are going to be distributed appropriately. It will also indicate whether or not they will be likely to go into areas that could be dangerous - such as the lung or abdominal cavity. Sometimes blood flow will have to be redirected. You will be awake for the procedure and can even watch the monitors if you so choose. You may feel some pressure but should not feel pain. Once the procedure is complete, the catheter will be carefully removed and pressure will be applied to the incision. You will have to lie flat for several hours to ensure that bleeding does not occur. If all goes well and Yttrium 90 Microspheres therapy is possible, then a date for the procedure will be set and you should be able to return home shortly after the evaluation."

lindaprocopio said:

had the radioembolism for the left side of my liver yeaterday...
What a long day! I was at the hospital from 8 to 8 to have the Sir-Spheres treatment to the right side of my liver. We had to wait for the Sir-Spheres to come in from Boston, and then for them to prep the room like a Haz-Mat area, so I wasn’t in the operating room until noon. (The room last to be prepped with a dispobable floor and the door sealed and once the radioactivity enters the room, no one can leave until the end when everyone had to dispose oif their booties and gowns and be geiger-countered. The surgeon was in a plastic bubble during the treeatment. It was fascinating to be awake for the procedure, but it did turn I into an endurance marathon with 3 hours in surgery and 4 hours in recovery, flat on my back and not allowed to raise my head or move my legs. My back was killing me from being still for so long It felt like when you make a too-ling road trip). I also got nauseated even during the surgery and had to have Zofran added, and later I threw up in recovery and pretty much had the dry heaves all the way home. I was too uncomfortable to sleep, and still throwing up the tea and water I was trying to get down. I think walking around last night really helped work the gas I was having because the back pain is gone and I am left with just tenderness in the area of my liver. I can see that I am on the mend already. TONS of new pills to take over the next 12 days, and I am radioactive and have to keep my distance from everyone.

The radiation interventionist said he gave me the maximum dosage for my size and volume of cancer. I am soooo hoping this will work for me. I wonder how long I will feel crappy? I'm tired today but excited by the possibility of this treatment.

lindaprocopio said:

had the radioembolism for the left side of my liver yeaterday...
What a long day! I was at the hospital from 8 to 8 to have the Sir-Spheres treatment to the right side of my liver. We had to wait for the Sir-Spheres to come in from Boston, and then for them to prep the room like a Haz-Mat area, so I wasn’t in the operating room until noon. (The room last to be prepped with a dispobable floor and the door sealed and once the radioactivity enters the room, no one can leave until the end when everyone had to dispose oif their booties and gowns and be geiger-countered. The surgeon was in a plastic bubble during the treeatment. It was fascinating to be awake for the procedure, but it did turn I into an endurance marathon with 3 hours in surgery and 4 hours in recovery, flat on my back and not allowed to raise my head or move my legs. My back was killing me from being still for so long It felt like when you make a too-ling road trip). I also got nauseated even during the surgery and had to have Zofran added, and later I threw up in recovery and pretty much had the dry heaves all the way home. I was too uncomfortable to sleep, and still throwing up the tea and water I was trying to get down. I think walking around last night really helped work the gas I was having because the back pain is gone and I am left with just tenderness in the area of my liver. I can see that I am on the mend already. TONS of new pills to take over the next 12 days, and I am radioactive and have to keep my distance from everyone.

The radiation interventionist said he gave me the maximum dosage for my size and volume of cancer. I am soooo hoping this will work for me. I wonder how long I will feel crappy? I'm tired today but excited by the possibility of this treatment.

Cindy Bear said:

wow
I don't know how many people would have your courage, faith and determination to go thru all of this, esp. since they have told you it's palliative, not curative. Still it is exciting and cutting edge and I have a really good feeling about this treatment.
Hoping you feel better soon!

lindaprocopio said:

had the radioembolism for the left side of my liver yeaterday...
What a long day! I was at the hospital from 8 to 8 to have the Sir-Spheres treatment to the right side of my liver. We had to wait for the Sir-Spheres to come in from Boston, and then for them to prep the room like a Haz-Mat area, so I wasn’t in the operating room until noon. (The room last to be prepped with a dispobable floor and the door sealed and once the radioactivity enters the room, no one can leave until the end when everyone had to dispose oif their booties and gowns and be geiger-countered. The surgeon was in a plastic bubble during the treeatment. It was fascinating to be awake for the procedure, but it did turn I into an endurance marathon with 3 hours in surgery and 4 hours in recovery, flat on my back and not allowed to raise my head or move my legs. My back was killing me from being still for so long It felt like when you make a too-ling road trip). I also got nauseated even during the surgery and had to have Zofran added, and later I threw up in recovery and pretty much had the dry heaves all the way home. I was too uncomfortable to sleep, and still throwing up the tea and water I was trying to get down. I think walking around last night really helped work the gas I was having because the back pain is gone and I am left with just tenderness in the area of my liver. I can see that I am on the mend already. TONS of new pills to take over the next 12 days, and I am radioactive and have to keep my distance from everyone.

The radiation interventionist said he gave me the maximum dosage for my size and volume of cancer. I am soooo hoping this will work for me. I wonder how long I will feel crappy? I'm tired today but excited by the possibility of this treatment.