Update and Advice Please

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midnte0708
midnte0708 Member Posts: 166
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I have not posted in a long time so I'll give you a quick summary.
My dad age 63 was diagnosed with livers mets in August 2005. (This was a recurrance..he had 2 colon resections in the past 10 years) The liver mets are quite large. The mass is about 17cm X 11cm X 10cm. He immediately started chemo in Aug 2005 and has been on FOLFIRI + Avastin for the last 13 months. Every scan showed no change except for the one in April 2006 showed a little shrinakge.
Well for some reason the oncologist said it was time to look at surgery. He ordered a MRI and another CAT scan and him and another oncologist both thought it looked good for surgery.
Today the liver surgeon (who said he has done 1000's liver surgeries) said that the tumor mss was too big and in a bad place.
This was the most disappointing news!
I know others on this site who have had initial rejections and gone for 2nd opinions and found a doctor who is willing to do the surgery. If you have the name of any doctors you recommend or
any advice it will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Sue

Comments

  • KathiM
    KathiM Member Posts: 8,028 Member
    #2
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    Sue,
    There are others here that will give details, but there is something called RFA that I think has to do with the liver....

    I just wanted to send my biggest hugs....

    Hugs, Kathi
  • pink05
    pink05 Member Posts: 550
    #3
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    Hi Sue,

    I just sent you an e-mail before reading this post. Yes, it is disappointing to hear the surgeons say that the surgery can't be done. I felt the same way when my dad's onc wanted to do radiofrequency ablation for my dad's liver mets and then told us that the surgeon couldn't do the procedure due to the location. At that time, I considered also getting a second opinion, and I think you should too. I would try to find other liver surgeons in the area that might be willing to try the procedure. Maybe you can even send your dad's records to different cancer treatment centers around the area. That would be my advice. A second opinion can't hurt.

    Take care,

    -Lee-
  • dash4
    dash4 Member Posts: 303 Member
    #4
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    Hi - not sure where you are from, but there is a superb liver surgeon in Pittsburgh PA. Even if you are not interested in the surgeon (his name is Dr. David Geller) -you should check out his website. It explains all the possible procedures with the liver. It is www.upmclivercancercenter.com
    Dr. Geller was the one that gave us hope for my husband, John. John was diagnosed in 10/04 with stage IV. He started on chemo and then had a colon resection with one team of colon surgeons and then Dr. Geller came in with his team and did a liver resection and a liver ablation. If you want more info you can email me. Good luck.
    Dash
  • midnte0708
    midnte0708 Member Posts: 166
    #5
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    dash4 said:

    Hi - not sure where you are from, but there is a superb liver surgeon in Pittsburgh PA. Even if you are not interested in the surgeon (his name is Dr. David Geller) -you should check out his website. It explains all the possible procedures with the liver. It is www.upmclivercancercenter.com
    Dr. Geller was the one that gave us hope for my husband, John. John was diagnosed in 10/04 with stage IV. He started on chemo and then had a colon resection with one team of colon surgeons and then Dr. Geller came in with his team and did a liver resection and a liver ablation. If you want more info you can email me. Good luck.
    Dash

    Thanks for everyones replies. My father is in Rochester, NY so Pittsburgh is not too far. I will check out the web site Dash...Thanks!

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