tumor on liver

strato
strato Member Posts: 10
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi everyone,
My husband was diagnosed with stage 3 rectal cancer 2 years ago, had rectum removed and chemo and radiation which ended 1 year ago. Now, after a PET scan, he has a 4 cm tumor on his liver that "surrounds and appears to encase and compress the middle and left hepatic veins near the IVC." Anyone know what IVC is? Report also says "it would be a somewhat difficult area surgically given it's strategic location."
The onco gave him the name of a surgeon to go to, but never mentioned that the surgery might be difficult, I just happened to get my hands on the report. Report also says he has thickening in the colon wall which onco didn't tell him. I don't know whether to tell hubby or not.
Anybody out there have this kind of liver surgery? We live in Vermont, so we have access to Boston and NY if necessary. The surgeon that the onco suggested is at Dartmouth in New Hampshire.
Any suggestions or info or anything at all about liver surgery or its alternatives would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

Comments

  • StacyGleaso
    StacyGleaso Member Posts: 1,233 Member
    #2
    I would call Dr. Fabrizio Michelassi @ Cornell University. He's one of the top surgeons in the area. He did my surgeries when he was Chief Surgeon at the University of Chicago back in 2002 (stage 4 with liver mets). I know that if tumor is too close to the hepatic veins, surgery is difficult. However, there are other options, like liver radiaion directly to the site. Call him. He's a genius.

    Let me know how things go.

    Stacy
  • jams67
    jams67 Member Posts: 925 Member
    #3
    I don't know if this helps, but my liver was resectioned taking out 3 tumors. The doc removed more than half if the liver and resectioned the colon and removed lymph nodes in Aug. '05. I have been NED since then.
    Jo Ann
  • StacyGleaso
    StacyGleaso Member Posts: 1,233 Member
    #4
    StacyGleaso said:

    I would call Dr. Fabrizio Michelassi @ Cornell University. He's one of the top surgeons in the area. He did my surgeries when he was Chief Surgeon at the University of Chicago back in 2002 (stage 4 with liver mets). I know that if tumor is too close to the hepatic veins, surgery is difficult. However, there are other options, like liver radiaion directly to the site. Call him. He's a genius.

    Let me know how things go.

    Stacy

    P.S. Make sure you tell him Stacy Gleason, his star patient from University of Chicago, referred you. Every year I send him "thank you" emails on my anniversary date!
  • strato
    strato Member Posts: 10
    #5
    StacyGleaso said:

    P.S. Make sure you tell him Stacy Gleason, his star patient from University of Chicago, referred you. Every year I send him "thank you" emails on my anniversary date!

    I cannot thank you enough! This is exactly what
    I was hoping for. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
    I'm so happy things worked out for you. I'll keep in touch.
  • strato
    strato Member Posts: 10
    #6
    StacyGleaso said:

    I would call Dr. Fabrizio Michelassi @ Cornell University. He's one of the top surgeons in the area. He did my surgeries when he was Chief Surgeon at the University of Chicago back in 2002 (stage 4 with liver mets). I know that if tumor is too close to the hepatic veins, surgery is difficult. However, there are other options, like liver radiaion directly to the site. Call him. He's a genius.

    Let me know how things go.

    Stacy

    Stacy, I sent an email to you but I did something wrong so here's another one.
    I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate your response. I looked Michelassi up and he sounds terrific and I'm urging my hubby to make an appt with him. Thank you so so much. May I ask you some questions? Did you have rectal cancer? Are you fine since the liver surgery? On Michelassi's site there's no mention of him doing liver surgery, but I'm assuming that's not important, right? How long did it take to recover from the liver surgery? Did you go on meds or radiation too? Sorry to ask so many questions, I hope you don't mind.
    I'll definitely keep you informed of what happens re Michelassi, and, again, I thank you so much.
    Best of luck to you.
  • StacyGleaso
    StacyGleaso Member Posts: 1,233 Member
    #7
    strato said:

    Stacy, I sent an email to you but I did something wrong so here's another one.
    I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate your response. I looked Michelassi up and he sounds terrific and I'm urging my hubby to make an appt with him. Thank you so so much. May I ask you some questions? Did you have rectal cancer? Are you fine since the liver surgery? On Michelassi's site there's no mention of him doing liver surgery, but I'm assuming that's not important, right? How long did it take to recover from the liver surgery? Did you go on meds or radiation too? Sorry to ask so many questions, I hope you don't mind.
    I'll definitely keep you informed of what happens re Michelassi, and, again, I thank you so much.
    Best of luck to you.

    I'm glad I was able to offer a little bit of information. Dr. Michelassi specializes in surgeries of the intestines/colon. My liver mets wasn't noticed until I was on the operating table to remove the tumor in my colon. Not sure if I was considered to have colon or rectal cancer. I had a 10 hour surgery that removed the tumor in the colon and 40% of my liver. He also took my gallbladder as it gave a cleaner shot to get to the liver. (Or maybe he was just on a scavenger hunt of some kind, I'm not sure! lol) Recovery time from that surgery was 1 week in the hospital, and close to 2 weeks at home. Hardest part was dealing with the 57 staples representing a zipper down my abdomen. I had chemo and radiation for 6 weeks before my surgery. After the surgery, I woke up with an illeostomy which was reversed in 9 months. During that time, I had 6 months of clean up chemo. I was very fortunate to have not had any side effects from any of the chemo. Additionally, the doc said to expect bowel changes for up to 36 months, and I was fine from day 1 after the illeostomy reversal. I am approaching 7 yrs since diagnosis in October, and have been cancerfree since my surgery in Jan. 2002. I still have my port, because I think of it as a security blanket. I am, however, actually considering getting it removed. I have not been on any meds or chemo since July 2002.

    I encourage you to contact me any time. I cannot guarantee I'll have all the answers, but I can always speak from my experiences.

    PLEASE keep me posted!

    Hugs,
    Stacy
  • hopefulone
    hopefulone Member Posts: 1,043 Member
    #8
    Hi. I'm in New York State and can tell you that my husband had multiple liver mets and successful surgery after being told inoperable etc. None were on the IVC which I think ( and I may be wrong is a main vein or artery) however , since you are a neighbor of ours, Vermont being close to New York, and if you are interested I can give you the name of the surgeon who did my husband's surgery and who I highly recommend and believe, by the grace of God , saved my husbands life. Dr Muhammed Hena .He has just been named an Associate Professor at Albany Medical Center and but still has his private practice also . You may want to contact him and see if he would be willing to view the ct/pet on cd. Email me here if you have any further questions .

    God Bless
    Diane ( also , Albany Med offers rfa(radio frequency ablation and may also offer theraspheres now for liver cancer. They have just put together a very qualified cancer team from all over the area).

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