Metastatic liver cancer

Eclairs covered with lots of chocolate was father’s new cancer treatment as in …a treat that brought a smile on father’s face!

Love is the best medicine!

Love doesn’t cure cancer and for sure chocolate is not a treatment for metastatic liver cancer. But love is the best foundation to give the much needed care a terminal cancer patient needs.

Parents love their children and devote lots and lots of their time and energy in raising their kids. The same effort will be needed when you are taking care of a loved one with cancer.

With kids, parents have a dream that they will end up like this or that… when talking about secondary liver cancer your dreams are on hold. The reality is that non of the metastatic liver cancer stories we gathered on our site talks about a cancer survivor.

Cure, Care or Chocolate?

There will be a moment you have to decide between:

• will we try every treatment to cure the metastatic cancer or
   
• will we admit we cannot cure the cancer and need to make the best out of a bad situation

You need to know that the longer you fight for a cure, most likely the more time the cancer patient spends in hospitals surrounded with doctors and nurses who don’t love them as much as you do!

Making the best out of a bad situation means going for "quality of life". Doctors use the term lightly. My brother’s first answer to what is quality of life?

father should travel to Norway…

…The next year my brother went on holiday to Norway. We never ever heard father talking about Norway in his entire life…

So what is quality of life? It’s different for each person!

You need to love and know the person
in order to know what he likes in his life and
you will have your answer to
what is quality of life.

For father, he loved to eat the above pastry: eclairs with lots of chocolate on top. Everybody knows that fat and chocolate are not good for the liver. But then you can choose:

• give father a liver cleanse and put him on a strict boring diet without taste or
   
• put a smile on father’s face when he receives his chocolate treat

When people smile, you know they are in their "quality of life" - zone.

A happy face was our guideline for giving father "quality of life". It’s in the small things of life that father enjoyed. It’s for sure not found between the 4 walls of the hospital.

We are still waiting for a new treatment for metastatic liver cancer. Father passed away in his sleep with a smile on his face…

Technorati Tags: cancer care, cancer cure, Cancer treatment, chocolate, eclairs, hospice, new cancer treatment, Palliative care, quality of life, smile

Clear images to give you a clear answer on the question: where is the liver located. Your liver is partly protected by the rib cage. Your liver consists of two lobes: the right lobe is about six times the size of your left lobe.

Where is the liver in the body?

The scan from father’s metastatic liver cancer should be interpreted as follows:

Where is your liver located ?

The above picture from father’s scan where father is lying on his back. Imagine you are standing at father’s feet looking up:

So in order to know where is the liver located in the human body you need to remember that in the MRI scans you are looking from below and up.

In father’s post of November 2006 where is my liver located, father confusingly described you should look at the scan from above. It was just in indication from what was to come: having a liver not cleaning up his blood properly, his brain would start to play tricks on him.

Another "up side down" example was when father one evening wanted to lower the window shutters. In stead started to pull at them.

When no shutters came down, father thought it was because he was loosing strength so he started to pull the shutters full force.

It took lots of persuasion and a few minutes of time before father realised he was pulling the shutters up in stead of letting them down…

If you would love to see more illustrations to find out where is the liver located, please leave a comment!

Technorati Tags: where is my liver, where is the liver, Where is the liver located, where is your liver, where is your liver located

Metastatic liver cancer prognosis

Linda asks our past experience in order to give a metastatic liver cancer prognosis for her aunt of 80 years (commented on
Metastatic liver cancer is unfair).
Our answer:

The candle can burn all the way
when well taken care off and
without a sudden unexpected breeze.

In our past experience we were given the following prognosis:

• the most direct crude answer came from the colon specialist saying: "your father is dying". Asked how long father would live he said: "most likely 3 to 6 months without any chemotherapy."
   
• the young oncologist said: "since we don’t know the primary cancer, I will have to give a very aggressive chemotherapy, and there is no guarantee that your father will survive the chemotherapy"
   
• the liver specialist said: "a few weeks"
   
• father’s GP said: "your father has a strong and stubborn character, so he will tend to live longer than half of the prognosis given by a specialist"

3 months after father was diagnosed with metastatic liver cancer, his health took a step to the worst and we had to rush him to hospital.

The hospital doctor on call said: "I will stabilize your father’s condition and hopefully he will be able to return in a few days".

Father returned home a few days later but "quality of life" was no longer than what it was before he went to hospital the last time.

Father died at home less than 5 months after he was diagnosed.

To summarize my experience: "your father is dying" was a clear message to reorganize my life in such a way I could spend the most time possible with my father in the days after he was diagnosed.

Just like you Linda, we didn’t do any follow up tests to see how father’s blood or liver was doing:

• First it’s quite hard to ask something like "father: let’s take some blood so we can second guess how long you most likely will live…"
   
• Secondly you will notice when the cancer is sucking out the life of your loved one, so with a bit of gut feeling you will know when the end is near.

Father did say the last day of his life to mother: "if I needed to start all over again, I will do it again with you…". That night father passed away with a smile on his face…

Linda’s metastatic liver cancer story

My Aunt of 80 years was diagnosed with secondary colon cancer on her liver.

She had two tumors 6cm and 3cm.

We went and had one ablated (so we think) we have not scheduled any other follow up tests.

The other tumor is right by her gallbladder and the Dr. was hesitant because he was concerned about burning her gallbladder and causing other complications.

She has decided to not have any further treatment.

The Dr. found the tumors in March of 08.

She looks great and still drives.

She is choosing quality of life for the moment.

How long do you think she may have from past experience.

The one Dr. said 8 months. I read somewhere that there is a 30% chance that she could survive 5 years.

Thanks for sharing Linda, feel free to ask more. All our hugs and prayers for you and your family!

Technorati Tags: Liver Cancer, liver cancer prognosis, Metastatic liver cancer prognosis, metsatatic liver cancer, Secondary liver cancer