Liver cancer - secondary cancer

[PhilPepper]

Just over two years ago, I joined this site. Diagnosed with colon cancer and treated as such. I thought it was early enough and the treatment was thorough enough, to make sure it didn't reappear.

Ta-Da!

So here we are again. Good news... The PET scan found only one tumour. It seems to be an early discovery. Markers had not shown up in my blood. I discovered it by accident, with a CT scan for a non-cancer-related reason. Bad news... It's aggressive cancer and I'm losing a chunk of my liver. And I'll have to do chemo again.

I can add up more positives than negatives. Doesn't take away the brick wall I've been hit with. Liver surgery is big. Having gone through chemo already, second time around seems scarier.

I have six sleeps before fronting up to the hospital for some slicing and dicing.

Anyway... bring on round 2.

Cheers everybody 

[Lampwork54]

oh Phil, that's really rough.  I hope you come through the surgery successfully.  Yes, it's major surgery but you are extremely tough.  I hope you get through this with flying colours.  You have such a positive attitude and I hope you take some great music with you to silently dance.  Sending you my best wishes for a great outcome and a speech return to health.  

[LindaG]

Hi Phil, so sorry you’ve got to do the cancer journey again. Sending you love and prayers! Keep us informed of your progress. Xx Linda G 

[mensana]

Certainly not the best of news. But they're onto it which is a good start. Not always easy to maintain but a positive attitude helps a lot. Chemo is always a daunting hurdle but you will get through it. I concentrated on the period after the chemo and it got me through. Wasn't easy, but I knew there were better times ahead. Best wishes for all your treatments.

[PhilPepper]

Hi

I should be in hospital recovering from liver surgery. Instead, I'm at home, waiting an extra week. Covid patients ended up in ICU overnight, taking the bed reserved for me. 

Not too bad to be put back a week. I was giving the option of seeking chemo first. Delaying treatment a week is not a great option, but surgery before chemo seems the better option.

I kind of had to roll my eyes because it was because of covid. With all the lockdown restrictions, covid's a bit of a boring conversation these days. Seems to be the cause of everyone's most predominant issues. Reflecting on it, I'm not sure why I wasn't angry or bitter. It's not like I can actually blame covid. There's no one I can really blame, so no point in being bitter. 

In saying that, being sent home in the middle of surgery day, wiped me out emotionally. I'd been mentally preparing for surgery for a week, which fell flat. Kind of like an anticlimax, but much more. It was awful. I think I was a bit relieved to not be going through it, but absolutely frightened about how this cancer could develop with an extra week of opportunity. 

A few days later and I'm moving on. I have a plan. I'm feeling more prepared earlier than last time. We shall see how I feel on Thursday when I front up to the hospital again.

[LindaG]

Hi Phil, so sorry about the cancellation of your op. Sounds like you’ve worked through the disappointment. Well done!  Hope it happens for you this week and you can recover before the chemo. Just try and take one day at a time. Sending you love and prayers 💕🙏. Linda G

[sch]

Hi PhilPepper,

Sorry, I don't know how I missed this post. I know we messaged a while ago so I was looking out for an update but I completely missed your post.

Then just saw this post.

Mate that sucks that it's come back.

Like you say, there's not really any point being angry or bitter about it. It is what it is.

Getting frustrated isn't going to help you any.

But I can certainly appreciate the emotional upheaval of going home on surgery day. Ouch.

I'm not too sure what the pluses and minuses are of having chemo/surgery first.

I know what some times they try to shrink the cancer first before surgery. In my case, I had surgery first because my large bowel was almost completely obstructed.

I'm glad to hear that you're dealing with it OK (at least from the sounds of it) .

So, if you're back in hospital on Thursday, you'll post and let us know how you went on Friday (kidding - wishful thinking).

Best of luck mate. If you need something, let me know.

-s

[sch]

Sorry - 2nd post already.

Personally, and I've spoken with a few people about it, chemo, generally, is worse than surgery.

After surgery you might be bloody sore afterwards (I was, and I had quite major surgery), but over time you get better. Chemo gets worse over time.

So post surgery, just keep asking for more drugs mate. You'll be fine. That's my advise.

Have you discussed yet what chemo they are going to be giving you? Same as last time or are they going to change it?

-s

[PhilPepper]

Still early days. I haven't spoken to the oncologist yet this time around. He has spoken to the surgeon though. From their roshambo, the surgeon won first stab.

I heard I can't be given the same chemo as before. That might be the case. I don't know.  In any case, it nearly killed me last time. Hopefully a different one will be more effective and less dangerous. 

[PhilPepper]

Well it's taken me about a moth, booking an appointment with the GP, getting a CT Scan, following up results with the GP and original surgeon, getting MRI and PET scan, meeting the new surgeon, getting bumped for my surgery date, then finally... being made cancer free.

So this has all happened two months before my scheduled CT Scan for my oncologists which was in December.  Therefore, I managed to rid myself of this thing three months early. As it was an aggressive little sod, I can't express my relief enough.

So they have taken the left lobe of my liver. Segments one and two. I am also feeling fortunate because of the sucess of the laproscopy. Minimal wounds and speedier recovery. 

So preparing was scary. I was prepared for the worst. Putting the arterial lines in was unpleasant. Getting a local in my spine was unpleasant. I woke up feeling less hallucinogenic than previously.  I was in practically no pain. Twelve hours later I'm having trouble sleeping,  but generally feeling good. I want to get out of bed and walk around. As I'm in ICU, I'm attached to many lines and cables, so need to stay put for now.

Anyway, a lot of fears and anxiety to get me to this point, but the treatment journey has been a breeze so far. Watch this space. I'm sure it won't stay rosie forever.

Ciao