liver resection and hepatic pump

hicarm
hicarm Member Posts: 57
edited October 2022 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I have not posted here for a while but have been following on posts here frequently. My dad was diagnosed in Nov 05 with stage 4, with 5 nymph nodes positive and liver mets. Did a resection in december on his colon and removed lymph nodes. Now he has completed 8 rounds of Xeloda, Oxiliplatin and avastin. The mets on his liver showed partial response to the chemo. The doctor suggested a PET scan in April and will make a decision on whether a liver resection is possible and suggested a hepatic pump. If Pet scan is clear, the doctor still suggest a liver surgery to "scan" the liver and use radiation to kill the cells and install a hepatic pump. If Pet scan is not clear, a liver resection (if possble) and a pump installation.

Now my father is reluctant to do the liver resection and the pump as he knows it is an open surgery which involves risk and long time for recovery. Does any one here have a liver resection before?

The doctor said that the liver resection and the pump is for the prevention/control of recurrence. Any opinions on hepatic pump? How effective is it? Does it take a lot of maintenence?

My father read the Quillin book and is leaning on a dramatic change of diet. But after observing his eating habbit in Hong Kong, I am doubtful on how thorough he could be to do that. He is 62 and quite set in his ways. Is it really possible to use diet to "control" this cancer? He is taking Reishi, vitamins, selenium, CQ 10.
Any opinions or thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

Carm

Comments

  • dash4
    dash4 Member Posts: 303 Member
    Hi,
    My husband had a liver resection and liver ablation and a colon resection all done during the same surgry in 12/05. He was about 10 days in the hospital---he had chemo before to shrink the tumors and started again less than a month after. A good web site that explains a lot about liver procedures is www.upmclivercancercenter.com It may answer many of your questions. Hope it helps. Let me know if I can answer any other questions for you from my husbands experience.
    Dash
  • lfondots63
    lfondots63 Member Posts: 818 Member
    Hi hicarm,

    I don't know about the resection and things but I believe a change in diet helps. If you read earlier posts, 2bhealed is a over 4 year survivor of stage 3 colon cancer that did not do chemo. She drastically changed her diet and is NED. She has a wealth of info. The book your father read is great. I have read it too and used it to change my diet. JaDot will tell you that Reshi works great too. I believe we should do everything in our power to beat this. I am a stage 3 colon cancer. I had surgery for the tumor and now I'm on chemo. I will keep on fighting with everything in my arsenal. It sounds like your father has a positive attitude which will help in his fight. Good vibes your father's and your way! Take care.

    Lisa
  • markatger
    markatger Member Posts: 314
    Hi Carm,

    I had a liver re-section in January. It was not bad at all. Actually my colon re-section was harder. I am young though (34), so that might have helped a little with my recovery from the liver surgery. But still I think if he did ok with colon re-section, I bet he'll tolerate the liver surgery just fine.

    Best Wishes to you and your Dad,

    Maria
  • PhillieG
    PhillieG Member Posts: 4,866 Member
    Sorry about your Dad's diagnosis. I have the pump for over a year. This is my Oncologist and a good storyon the pump treatment Pump Therapy Video.
    I've had success too, it's low maintainence. I hope this helps. Feel free to contact me for more info
    -phil
  • drywallguy
    drywallguy Member Posts: 2 *

    My wife (56 years old) had a golf ball sized tumor removed along with 20 inches of colon June of 2021. Along with the section of colon removed came 65 lymph nodes. The subsequent pathology report came up negative for any free floating cancer cells. My wife, being a wholistic health lady went full bore on a vegan juicing diet for the next 8 months and skipped out on the optional chemo. In May of 2022 she had another golf ball growing but this time a met on her liver.

    In 6 weeks it had become a grapefruit and in September (3 weeks ago) the liver surgeon removed her entire left lobe and found another around her gall bladder which also got removed. My wife has always been the heath conscious nazi in our home and I'm the guy who eats everything "wrong" and I seem healthy. I'm worried about her because she weighs 113 lbs and before cancer she was 150. It isn't cancer that is shrinking her, it's this vegan diet. We've spent so much on naturalpaths, hyperbaric O2, French green clay, organic everything, infrared saunas, this mineral, that mineral, this herb, that herb... I'm beginning to think that cancer for my wife is directly associated with stress and genetics and has little to do with nutrition. She also won't do chemo which bothers me greatly but I often find myself fighting against the cult of wholistic health where 100 years of Western medicine gets thrown out the window because some guy in California beat cancer by juicing 5 lbs of carrots a day...ugh

  • gmtexas
    gmtexas Member Posts: 13 Member

    Drywallguy, your wife is fortunate to have a partner engaged with managing her cancer. For me, my wife is the advocate and catalyst that allows me to successfully manage my late stage cancer as a chronic disease. Lalisa is my blessing and you… your wife’s.

    My short response, one I am happy to elaborate should you feel value, is that I believe an ‘integrative’ approach, combination of western and eastern medicine has been the key to my success. Both western and holistic practices can be beneficial. I am now in my eleventh year, managing Stage IV colon cancer through surgeries, various chemo/targeted regimens, diet (superfoods, herbs, etc.), second opinions and what I call, a few other common sense, critical success factors. My goal is to ‘reset’ the clock and manage this disease until a cure is found. I’ve had intermittent remissions, including a three year span and am now currently in remission (NED), since January 2022, following a 24 month, phase 2 clinical trial. This integrative approach has proven lifesaving.

    Holistic, like so many things, has become convoluted over the decades. Holistic medicine simply treats the "whole person" rather than focusing on a single symptom. It emphasizes the connections between the mind and the body, avoids the overuse of drugs (NOT THE ELIMINATION), and has borrowed such practices from Eastern traditions. The combination of Holistic and Western medicines come to life in an Integrative approach to what I simply call … managing late stage colon cancer as a chronic disease. More and more cancer organizations and physicians, these past 11 years, are realizing the same. Drywallguy, sounds like your wife used western medicine with ‘surgery.’ Maybe time for her to expand western medicine beyond surgery, combining Holistic techniques that focus on the entire health of mind and body and going the … ‘Integrative approach’. I guess this has Not been a short response. I wish you and your wife well.

  • drywallguy
    drywallguy Member Posts: 2 *

    Mr. God made Texas, thanks for your encouragement. We have six kids and watching my wife of 28 years slowly shrink down to 113lbs is troublesome to me.

  • SandiaBuddy
    SandiaBuddy Member Posts: 1,381 Member

    It sounds like a tough situation, as every adult has the right to make their own decisions, but sometimes low weight itself is a health crisis. Hopefully you will share this with your wife: My personal experience is that my weight dropped severely after surgery. Although I like to eat mostly natural, whole foods, I resorted to eating anything that I could keep down or that would increase my weight. That included ice cream and tasty little 50 cent pies they sell at Walmart. After a while my weight stabilized, and I was able to go back to a more healthy diet. Sometimes one needs to balance the risks and benefits of a diet strategy, and for me, gaining weight was the biggest benefit.