New to the Battle

menright said:

Biopsy gone bad
Well I just received word that there is one small spot on the liver that is indeed cancer. I so hoped otherwise.

Now my treatment plan will change and become prolonged.

I was told this is a roller coaster ride and they weren't kidding.

Wish me luck. I have an appointment with the chemo oncologist tomorrow to review the biopsy and lay out the treatment plan.

I guess I will be setting aside the Xeloda pills and going to a more agressive Chemo plan. Any ideas what that would be?

Any questions I should be asking tomorrow from your collective experience?

Mike

Biopsy
Hey Mike,

Naaaa... don't think "biopsy gone bad"... in the old days, before they had biopsies, no one had any idea if the cancer had spread until it was too late. Now, with biopsies, PET scans, CAT scans, blood work and then the various treatment options... having a met in your liver doesn't have to be as scary as it appears when you first hear the words. Granted, it would have been music to your ears to hear they didn't find anything... but consider yourself lucky that they did find it now and can treat it.

As someone said above, there are so many new drugs/treatments/options for Stage IV (or any stage) that it almost makes sense that they re-invent the staging system.

When you see your onc tomorrow, it's true, you will be given so much information about treatments, IV/Port installation if appropriate, further testing, various appts. with various medical personnel...you are going to feel like your head is spinning like in the Exorcist So, if at all possible, have your wife go with you with a notebook. As a matter of fact, I strongly advise you to pick up a nice notebook for yourself, be it one you can carry in your pocket, or a briefcase or whatever it takes to have it with you at all times. When you think of a question, write it down... and refer to your questions when you meet with the doctors. For this first appt. have your wife or someone write down answers... or even better, if you have a tape-recorder or dictaphone type machine, tape the appt. so you can go over what was said later.

For the next little while, everything will seem confusing... but trust us, this does all calm down. You are young, have the right attitude and if it weren't for this darn monster, you'd be healthy to boot! You've got all the ingredients to come through this with flying colours

Hugggggs,

Cheryl