We still need the doctors to determine if the origin of this cancer is in fact the liver or somewhere else. The surgeon says it does not look like it has spread anywhere else and he thinks it originated in the bile ducts of the liver. Alvarez says he thinks it may have originated elsewhere and is affecting the liver and the lymph nodes and pancreas nearby. Also, he wonders if it didn’t originate in the bowel somewhere. Clearly, the jury’s still out on that. Once Alvarez and our second oncologist review the pathology report from the biopsy, then they can clear this matter up.

In the meantime, I found a wealth of information here! I am impressed at how they are treating cancers these days.

Hello.
I am starting this blog back up again just to keep track of and offer updates for my health. This page is for family and friends to check up on me. Instead of me calling everyone individually and repeating the same updates over and over again, this is just easier for me to put it all here and let you read it as you wish. If you have any further questions beyond what you will read here, please leave those questions in the comments section here and I will check and respond regularly.
I do hope that none of you are offended by this. I have learned over the past two months just how exhausting it is to make sure everyone I know is “in the loop” when it comes to my health updates or information about my mother’s passing. And right now I’m further exhausted from the continuing recovery from last Friday’s surgery, not to mention all the information I am getting from the doctors right now.
I have assembled a team of people to help me translate medical jargon, organize reports and paperwork, schedule appointments and otherwise provide moral and emotional support. The team consists of myself, my husband Pete (who will be referred to as “Honey”), my mother-in-law (Carolyn) and father-in-law (Frank). An extention of this team will also consist of my dad (Dad), my therapist (”ShrinkyDink”), my primary care physician (PCP), and my original Oncologist (Alvarez). More doctors are lining up to join the team but they will be addressed as they cross my path.
So please feel free to check back here for updates on my health. Email me or post comments here with questions. Thank you.

This morning we met with Dr. Alvarez (the oncologist I’ve been seeing for the past two months). Our intention was to meet with him and go over the pathology report from last Friday’s biopsy but the final report hadn’t been completed yet by the hospital so we did what we could without it.

Frank, Carolyn and Pete were all with me at this visit. Frank did most of the asking of questions while Carolyn took notes. Pete and I are exhausted and very fragile at this point. We were so very glad to have them with us, helping us get through it. I’m still very sore from Friday’s surgery but it is getting better a little bit every day. Alvarez said I was doing surprisingly well for someone who just had surgery last Friday. Horray!

We are unable to make a lot of decisions without the formal pathology report which Alvarez expects should be completed by this Friday, or next Monday at the latest. In the meantime, though, we discussed options and began gearing up to take the next step.

First, we need a copy of everything they have on me -including pathology report, slides, and Xrays- at the hospital from Friday’s biopsy. We have to request all of this from the hospital directly. Honey has taken a copy of our paperwork that gives him Medical Durable Power of Attorney to the hospital now to put that request in.

Next, we are to call another Oncologist out of the University of Colorado Medical Center, which is, apparently, at the cutting edge of cancer treatment. (In my honest opinion, everyone says everywhere is at the cutting edge of cancer treatment just to make everything sound so positive, so you never feel like you’re choosing second-rate care for your cancer!). While we were at his office, Alvarez got on the phone with and convinced Dr. Cane (oncologist at CU Med Center) to take me on as a new patient. Frank and Carolyn are on the phone now making an appointment for me with her ASAP.

In the meantime, I am calling a Dr. Schriber, who is a radiology therapist, to see what he thinks can be done radiologically. Can we plant a radiation seed in the tumor and try to shrink it? Again, of course, he’ll need the final pathology report from the hospital but we are making appointments ahead of time so that we don’t have to sit around and wait wait wait anymore than we have to!

Also, I am making an appointment to go see my surgeon again to get his opinion on whether or not he thinks he can/should go in and cut this tumor out. He told us prior to surgery that, from the looks of the tumor on the CAT scan, he cannot go in and remove it surgically at this time, especially if it is cancer (this was before he determined with the scope that it is, indeed, cancer). That is because the tumor is compressing a vein that runs through my liver and that would be too risky to cut around that vein. And he feels since it’s cancer, he would only want to have me endure the risks of surgery if he could remove ALL of the tumor, not just part of it. He’s not a half-assed kind of guy! I like that about him.

I am considering whether to have an IV catheter inserted now or later. This would be in place for beginning chemo treatments. Fortunately, if we stick with Alvarez, the chemo can be administered at his office, which is less than 5 minutes away from home. He says that I am in good health otherwise and I shouldn’t get too sick or lose my hair from the chemo. He sent us home with a bunch of literature on the types of chemo he’s considering using on me. I haven’t looked at it all yet.

My liver function, as of last Tuesday, is still very normal.

I’ve got to stop typing this now so I can get on the phone to make more appointments. Will update again soon.