Nov 21 2006
Metastatic liver cancer facts
Since I know I have cancer, I have been bombarded with words that I didn’t understand and some words I still don’t understand… So its about time I write down what I know about what I have… Sounds silly, but I can assure you that my mind is really overheated not to say crazy with all these terms thrown at me. Yet I would have preferred a cancer treatment, not a cancer dictionary…
To keep track of all the metastatic cancer facts, I summarize my findings at Metastatic liver cancer facts
Metastatic
I was blown away by the word "cancer", but what really is my "death
sentence" is the word "metastatic"…
A metastatic cancer is a cancer that has spread from its’ place of origin to another place or any other places in the body. Also called secondary tumor or secondary cancer. With me the doctors are not sure whether my cancer originates from a colon cancer, a prostate cancer, a lung cancer or a gland cancer on my left shoulder… I had a colonoscopy (read: 2 days of diarrhea), gastroscopy, pet-scan, CT scan and liver biopsy (with a needle) and yet the result is the same: we cannot find the primary source of your metastatic liver cancer.
A metastatic cancer can have spread to other places through:
- blood vessels or
- lymph vessels
which basically are the 2 transport systems in our entire body, which means that the cancer really can go anywhere…
Metastatic liver cancer prognosis
Ever wanted to put out a fire, but you just don’t know where the fire comes from? Pretty difficult… Same with a metastatic liver cancer: if you cannot find it, you need to assume the primary cancer is "everywhere" so your cancer treatment will go "everywhere" as well. In other words: a very, very strong chemo-therapy.
Metastatic liver cancer prognosis is normally not good. Unless you can find and treat the primary cancer. Cancer treatment means you will probably get a chemotherapy, and if you are young and fit, you can deal with it "easily". Myself I am old and already have difficulties keeping food in just like that, what kind of life do I get when I get a chemotherapy?
All in all my prognosis is not good and adding to that a chemotherapy doesn’t sound like a "healthy" decision either…
Technorati Tags: Cancer | Colon cancer | Cancer treatment | Liver cancer | Metastatic liver cancer facts | Metastatic liver cancer prognosis | Chemotherapy
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[...] Here’s a new blog I found called Metastatic Liver Cancer. The author got sick a few months ago, and found out she had a tumor causing Metastatic Liver Cancer, which is a cancer that has spread from its’ place of origin to another place or any other places in the body. The blog is heartbreaking, frank, and painful to read at times, but it’s a true and honest portrait of someone living with cancer. [...]