doudenal cancer after whipple

MichelleB83845
MichelleB83845 Member Posts: 13
edited March 2014 in Rare and Other Cancers #1
I am 32 with 3 beautiful childeren (2,5, 11) and a wonderful husband. I have been recovering from whipple surgery for 5 weeks. I had a 4.5 cm stage 3 tumor that is poorly differenciated and 1 out of 8 lymph nodeds showed positive for cancer.

I am wondering if anybody has decided to not do chemo and radiation and use natural methods for fighting cancer?

Any long term survivors?

All advise and wisdom would be appreicated.

Comments

  • Haylez
    Haylez Member Posts: 6
    #2
    My Mum is 52 and had the
    My Mum is 52 and had the whipple a little over 7 weeks ago for duodenal cancer.

    She is currently in an appointment with her oncologist to find out about the next step, which will be chemo. She has been told it may not be completely necessary as the surgery went really well, but as a precaution my mum is determined to have it.

    I personally think its important to combine chemo/radiation with alternative methods. At the end of the day, you are talking about life or death. Yes, chemo can be a long and hard road, but surely the alternative is worse.

    How are you recovering from your whipples? My mums tumour was removed, along with a small lesion in her liver, yet none in any of her lymph nodes. This is very unusual. But positive!

    She is slowly putting on weight, and eating as much as she can. She was only 48 kilos before the surgery, therefore didnt have much to lose!

    Would love to hear about your progess, as well as any alternative therapies you know of. I can be very sceptical about them, but they do interest me. I read something the other day linking asparagus to cancer cure!

    Haylez
  • MichelleB83845
    MichelleB83845 Member Posts: 13
    #3
    Haylez said:

    My Mum is 52 and had the
    My Mum is 52 and had the whipple a little over 7 weeks ago for duodenal cancer.

    She is currently in an appointment with her oncologist to find out about the next step, which will be chemo. She has been told it may not be completely necessary as the surgery went really well, but as a precaution my mum is determined to have it.

    I personally think its important to combine chemo/radiation with alternative methods. At the end of the day, you are talking about life or death. Yes, chemo can be a long and hard road, but surely the alternative is worse.

    How are you recovering from your whipples? My mums tumour was removed, along with a small lesion in her liver, yet none in any of her lymph nodes. This is very unusual. But positive!

    She is slowly putting on weight, and eating as much as she can. She was only 48 kilos before the surgery, therefore didnt have much to lose!

    Would love to hear about your progess, as well as any alternative therapies you know of. I can be very sceptical about them, but they do interest me. I read something the other day linking asparagus to cancer cure!

    Haylez

    Hello-
    I am feeling good. I
    Hello-

    I am feeling good. I feel stronger everyday, yet frustrated that I am not able to pick up my kids when they need Mommy. I am trying very hard to be optimistic but do find myself getting scared once in a while. I just try to give it to God and pray that I will be around to watch my kids grow up and grow old with my husband.

    I will be meeting the oncologist on Wed and find out what they think as far as treatment. I have heard that taking herbs and juiceing during chemo and radiation helps people. I have been trying to drink carrott/apple juice and taking enzymes that are supposed to help. I do know that cancer grows with sugar so I am trying to watch my intake on that (not easy).Protein is very important as well because if you dont take in enough protein then your body will actually attack its liver and heart because of what the chemo does to your cells. I have been told that there are some very healthy protein shakes that help.

    I also know that attitude has alot to do with outcome. Never give up. I will pray for your mum, and would love to keep in touch with any advise and methods of treatment your mum is using.

    Michelle
  • Haylez
    Haylez Member Posts: 6
    #4
    MichelleB83845 said:

    Hello-
    I am feeling good. I
    Hello-

    I am feeling good. I feel stronger everyday, yet frustrated that I am not able to pick up my kids when they need Mommy. I am trying very hard to be optimistic but do find myself getting scared once in a while. I just try to give it to God and pray that I will be around to watch my kids grow up and grow old with my husband.

    I will be meeting the oncologist on Wed and find out what they think as far as treatment. I have heard that taking herbs and juiceing during chemo and radiation helps people. I have been trying to drink carrott/apple juice and taking enzymes that are supposed to help. I do know that cancer grows with sugar so I am trying to watch my intake on that (not easy).Protein is very important as well because if you dont take in enough protein then your body will actually attack its liver and heart because of what the chemo does to your cells. I have been told that there are some very healthy protein shakes that help.

    I also know that attitude has alot to do with outcome. Never give up. I will pray for your mum, and would love to keep in touch with any advise and methods of treatment your mum is using.

    Michelle

    Hi,
    Mum just had her 3rd
    Hi,

    Mum just had her 3rd cycle of FOLFOX chemo, and is doing pretty good so far. She goes in once a fortnight for 3 hours, and then brings one drug home with her in a bottle connected to her picc line for two days, then goes back in and has it disconnected. She is very sensitive to the cold the two days following, and a little off her food. Then she has a couple of bad days on the 3rd and 4th day. Just really tired, a bit of it, slightly nauseas and no appetite. But then she comes pretty good, and has a good week before she goes back in again.

    Mum is also on enzymes, mainly to help her to put on weight. She put on 1.5kg in the 10days between cycles so she was really happy with that! Her diet consists on lots of protein (they told her that your body needs this to recover). Eggs are supposed to be a super food in relation to helping the body recover, so she has at least 1 a day (doesnt help with her already high cholesterol, but the doctors say she has the rest of her life to get that right!)She also does the protein drinks, although they arent very appetising at times! But she does her best to get through them. Her dietician always has really good ideas, have you spoken to one? She has also started having 3 tablespoons of crushed asparagus everyday. Who knows how much that will work, but it certainly cant hurt!

    To combat the nausea, she finds anything ginger works well. Ginger beer, ginger tea etc. She uses a bicarbonate mouth wash for the ulcers. I also read something about how important it is to keep the pH balance in your body right. Tumours thrive on an acidic environment. There are many therapies out there that can help to get it right.

    I feel really overwhelmed at times with the amount of information out there. I think the most important thing to do is to just trust your doctors and any other health specialists you choose to see. Staying positive is so important. Increasingly hard for mum has she lost her own mum the week she was diagnosed... when it rains it pours!

    Have you started your treatment yet? If so, I hope it's treating you well, and you continue hugging your children!

    Please keep in touch. There's not much out there on this, so we have to stick together!

    Haylez
  • MichelleB83845
    MichelleB83845 Member Posts: 13
    #5
    Haylez said:

    Hi,
    Mum just had her 3rd
    Hi,

    Mum just had her 3rd cycle of FOLFOX chemo, and is doing pretty good so far. She goes in once a fortnight for 3 hours, and then brings one drug home with her in a bottle connected to her picc line for two days, then goes back in and has it disconnected. She is very sensitive to the cold the two days following, and a little off her food. Then she has a couple of bad days on the 3rd and 4th day. Just really tired, a bit of it, slightly nauseas and no appetite. But then she comes pretty good, and has a good week before she goes back in again.

    Mum is also on enzymes, mainly to help her to put on weight. She put on 1.5kg in the 10days between cycles so she was really happy with that! Her diet consists on lots of protein (they told her that your body needs this to recover). Eggs are supposed to be a super food in relation to helping the body recover, so she has at least 1 a day (doesnt help with her already high cholesterol, but the doctors say she has the rest of her life to get that right!)She also does the protein drinks, although they arent very appetising at times! But she does her best to get through them. Her dietician always has really good ideas, have you spoken to one? She has also started having 3 tablespoons of crushed asparagus everyday. Who knows how much that will work, but it certainly cant hurt!

    To combat the nausea, she finds anything ginger works well. Ginger beer, ginger tea etc. She uses a bicarbonate mouth wash for the ulcers. I also read something about how important it is to keep the pH balance in your body right. Tumours thrive on an acidic environment. There are many therapies out there that can help to get it right.

    I feel really overwhelmed at times with the amount of information out there. I think the most important thing to do is to just trust your doctors and any other health specialists you choose to see. Staying positive is so important. Increasingly hard for mum has she lost her own mum the week she was diagnosed... when it rains it pours!

    Have you started your treatment yet? If so, I hope it's treating you well, and you continue hugging your children!

    Please keep in touch. There's not much out there on this, so we have to stick together!

    Haylez

    Hi
    I have not started
    Hi

    I have not started treatment yet. We have been appealing with my insurance company about radiation. The type that they approve will destroy 60% of my right kidney and 30% of my left. The radiation that my doc wants to put me on will only destroy 10% of each, but of course they wont pay for it and its expensive! So I give it to God and pray that if my kidneys are damaged they will at least function good enough that I will not have to have any treatment for them. I plan on starting next week with radiation either way. I would rather deal with kidney problems then cancer that comes back and is too severe that nothing will help.

    It's good to hear that chemo is ok to deal with. I'm a little nervous but need to keep reminding myself that its only 6 months and then I have the rest of my life to watch the kids grow and be with my husband.

    I pray that your mum is well and keeps in good spirits.

    Michelle
  • sbruin98
    sbruin98 Member Posts: 2
    #6
    Haylez said:

    My Mum is 52 and had the
    My Mum is 52 and had the whipple a little over 7 weeks ago for duodenal cancer.

    She is currently in an appointment with her oncologist to find out about the next step, which will be chemo. She has been told it may not be completely necessary as the surgery went really well, but as a precaution my mum is determined to have it.

    I personally think its important to combine chemo/radiation with alternative methods. At the end of the day, you are talking about life or death. Yes, chemo can be a long and hard road, but surely the alternative is worse.

    How are you recovering from your whipples? My mums tumour was removed, along with a small lesion in her liver, yet none in any of her lymph nodes. This is very unusual. But positive!

    She is slowly putting on weight, and eating as much as she can. She was only 48 kilos before the surgery, therefore didnt have much to lose!

    Would love to hear about your progess, as well as any alternative therapies you know of. I can be very sceptical about them, but they do interest me. I read something the other day linking asparagus to cancer cure!

    Haylez

    My husband - 36 - about to start chemo/radiation
    Wow! my jaw dropped when I read your post! My husband is 36, had his whipple 4 weeks ago. His tumor was also removed, all 49 lymph nodes were clear, yet, the tumor had touched (not spread) the liver, so they took a sliver of that as well. All margins were clear, but he is still going ahead with further treatment.

    He will have 6 weeks of combined chemo pills (Xeloda) and radiation 5 days/week. Better safe than sorry!

    I hope all goes well with your mum.

    Sincerely,

    Corrie Cataldi
  • sbruin98
    sbruin98 Member Posts: 2
    #7
    Haylez said:

    My Mum is 52 and had the
    My Mum is 52 and had the whipple a little over 7 weeks ago for duodenal cancer.

    She is currently in an appointment with her oncologist to find out about the next step, which will be chemo. She has been told it may not be completely necessary as the surgery went really well, but as a precaution my mum is determined to have it.

    I personally think its important to combine chemo/radiation with alternative methods. At the end of the day, you are talking about life or death. Yes, chemo can be a long and hard road, but surely the alternative is worse.

    How are you recovering from your whipples? My mums tumour was removed, along with a small lesion in her liver, yet none in any of her lymph nodes. This is very unusual. But positive!

    She is slowly putting on weight, and eating as much as she can. She was only 48 kilos before the surgery, therefore didnt have much to lose!

    Would love to hear about your progess, as well as any alternative therapies you know of. I can be very sceptical about them, but they do interest me. I read something the other day linking asparagus to cancer cure!

    Haylez

    My husband - 36 - about to start chemo/radiation
    Wow! my jaw dropped when I read your post! My husband is 36, had his whipple 4 weeks ago. His tumor was also removed, all 49 lymph nodes were clear, yet, the tumor had touched (not spread) the liver, so they took a sliver of that as well. All margins were clear, but he is still going ahead with further treatment.

    He will have 6 weeks of combined chemo pills (Xeloda) and radiation 5 days/week. Better safe than sorry!

    I hope all goes well with your mum.

    Sincerely,

    Corrie Cataldi
  • MichelleB83845
    MichelleB83845 Member Posts: 13
    #8
    sbruin98 said:

    My husband - 36 - about to start chemo/radiation
    Wow! my jaw dropped when I read your post! My husband is 36, had his whipple 4 weeks ago. His tumor was also removed, all 49 lymph nodes were clear, yet, the tumor had touched (not spread) the liver, so they took a sliver of that as well. All margins were clear, but he is still going ahead with further treatment.

    He will have 6 weeks of combined chemo pills (Xeloda) and radiation 5 days/week. Better safe than sorry!

    I hope all goes well with your mum.

    Sincerely,

    Corrie Cataldi

    Hello
    Hi. I had radiation for 5 weeks. The worst part of that for me was the 200 mile round trip everyday. along with radiation I took Xeloda. After radiation I started of Folfuri chemo. Would spend 6-8 hours in a chair in the "chemo" room then take it home in a fannypack for 48 hours, then go back to docs to get it off and would spend a couple days sick then come out of that and get 10 days off then back on. My doc only had me do 8 treatments. so my last treatment was early Dec 2010. had my port out in March and my last CA 19-9 marker # was 6. so right now I feel pretty good. I still get tired, but not like before. Still pray that my cancer is completely dissolved, and hate it when that little negative thought goes into my head.
    Good luck to your husband. It is not easy, not fun, and if you have children it really is hard to lay in bed while they want to play. But it is only for awhile. and will be over soon. So it sounds like he will only take the pill not liquid chemo? If so that is great (as far as treatment goes)!

Discussion Boards