Attn: Liver Resectionees

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midnte0708
midnte0708 Member Posts: 166
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Just curious for those who have had liver resections did the first surgeon you saw give the green light for the resection or did any of you have to look for more opinions to find a doctor willing or able to perform the surgery??

I'm just trying to figure out why the VERY conservative oncologist of my father who gave him 1 year to live last november would say it may be time to do surgery and review the scan with another oncologist and both say it looked good for surgery and schedule appt. w/surgeon. Then surgeon said basically tumor mass is too large and in bad place.
I know the oncologist is not a surgeon but he must have a clue about when it is possible or not to resect the liver.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks,
Sue

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  • carmen07
    carmen07 Member Posts: 120 Member
    #2
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    Sue,
    My husband had two lesions and his oncologist told him that he should have the chemo first and that he was not a surgeon but believed that his lesions could be resected.
    After his lesion did shrink he was sent to the surgeon who then scheduled surgery.
    I don't know if your Dad's surgeon is in the same hospital but if he is I am surprised that they would not talk as a team at the board meetings.
    Is surgery completely out or does the surgeon want the mass to shrink more? If it is because of the location (mayber near vein) can he have RFA of the liver? How much do they feel that the mass should shrink? Maybe the surgeon feels that he can't get clear margins.
    Will they continue with the same treatment?
    I have read about patients that were told that they could not have their liver resected and have found institutions that would resect the liver(Sloane).
    I would seek a second opinion at a large Cancer center. Hope this helps. I know your dissapointed and frustrated. I have found that doctors don't always explain procedures clearly and seeking a second opinion helps. Best of luck to you.
  • jams67
    jams67 Member Posts: 925 Member
    #3
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    Sue, someone posted a great website not long ago.
    http://www2.mdanderson.org/depts/oncolog/articles/06/4-apr/4-06-1.html
    I had about half of my liver resected but I know it isn't for everyone. Be sure to check with a surgeon who specializes in this area. The liver is very complicated and not all surgeons are as successful as others. My friend's brother is a liver transplant surgeon in another state and reccomended the doctor I used. Also, had an opinion from an internist and an oncologist. Hope this helps. jams
  • shmurciakova
    shmurciakova Member Posts: 906 Member
    #4
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    I had my liver resection at MD Anderson. My doctors name is Steven Curley. My tumor was in a fairly tricky spot. I did not even consider going to any surgeon around here. I told my oncologist that I wanted to go down to MD because that is where my parents live and she made the arrangements/referral for me.
    I have been following up with Dr. Curley since them and I like him very much. I feel that he cares about the wefare of his patients, not to mention he is one of the best at this procedure and will certainly know if it is possible.
    If you are near any major cancer centers I would go for a second opinion if I were you.....
    Take care,
    Susan.
  • glimmerofhope
    glimmerofhope Member Posts: 53 Member
    #5
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    Oncologists and even surgeons that aren't liver specialists don't have a clue about when a liver is resectable.

    Case in point....ME. The surgeon that cut out 10" of my colon told me that my liver lesions were near "structure" (blood vessels, etc)and not resectable. Since he was relatively young and did minor liver surgery himself, I thought he knew what he was talking about..... He didn't.

    When I mentioned that I knew surgeons liked to cut and surely some cowboy would take a chance on cutting it out on me, he said " You'd bleed to death on the operating table!" I was devastated, but got a second opinion from Dr. Clary, liver specialist at Duke Hospital and YADA, YADA, YADA, I had 1/2 my liver cut out 3&1/2 years ago and I didn't bleed to death on the operating table.

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