Liver resection for 10 tumors??

[mrsfaber]

Hi All,
I'm stage 4 colon cancer, met. to my lung and liver. Lung is now clear, chemo shrunk my liver tumors in 1/2 :-) so they are now willing to try for a resection. Has anyone had such a large resection? I am praying for success and restored health after 6 more months of chemo. Thanks for any prayers :-) God bless you all :-)
Elizabeth

[Christine]

Hi Elizabeth,

I had a liver resection last July. I only had three tumors; however, due to the location of these tumors, they removed 70% of my liver (the entire right lobe and a portion of the left lobe). I had a little trouble with liver functions right after the surgery - I wound up in the ICU and on the transplant list because it looked like the 30% that was left was failing, but then it all turned around. My numbers started to get better and I had a CT scan which showed that my liver was already starting to regenerate. Seven months later, I am still NED and doing great.

Have they mentioned to you how much of the liver they will be removing?

[missjv]

hi,
well the fact that the tumors shrunk in half is a good sign because the less liver removed the better but like christine she had alot removed and is now doing great. they don't go by how many tumors so much anymore as how much healthy liver can be spared and the good thing about the liver it usually comes back to life. i had liver resection in december 06 for 3 small lesions but 1 of mine was on the back of liver at the very dome of the liver and it was hard to get to so i also had alot more removed then was planned but it has since regenerated according to cat scan and i am feeling great and have no visible signs of cancer. i do however have the hepatic artery pump that sends chemo straight to liver as well i have systemic chemo for 7 more treatments to catch any microscopic stuff that might be trying to grow. one thing about liver surgery is try to go to a place where they do it often it can make a big difference in the outcome. good luck im sure you will do fine.


missjv

[rthornton]

Hi.

Like Christine, I had a large part of my liver removed last summer (in August). I had a PET scan around Xmas that showed a lot of regeneration and no recurrence. And, again like Christine, I am NED (as of a PET scan around Christmas, anyway).

Best wishes!

Rodney

[Lifes2short]

I'm in the same boat - but I have only (only!!) five lesions. They will remove my entire right lobe and some of my left. The surgeon who will be doing my surgery feels confident that all will be fine. The second and third opionion docs as well as my recal surgeon and oncologist feel that the surgery will be VERY aggressive and there's a chance I won't survive.

I'm very nervous about the surgery. Wondering whether to do it sooner or later. I want to be agressive, but I also want to extend my life as long as possible.

[Aunt Marilyn]

Hi to all of you, and I'm so happy to hear that your resections have been successful.

Can you please help by letting me know who your doctor/surgons are and where they practice? My nephew's onc seems like a good person but is not inclined toward aggressive treatment. We would like to get other opinions but would like to focus the effort on doctors who have shown a willingness to help a stage IV patient 'go for it', and there are so many doctors it's hard to know where to start. He lives in the Chicago area but we're willing to look at everything. He's 33 and still has alot of life to look forward to.

Thans for your help and any direction you can provide.

[Christine]

I've received all my treatments at UCLA. My surgeon for my liver resection was Dr. Ronald Busuttil (http://www.healthcare.ucla.edu/institut ... el_id=7937). He is an expert on the liver - he founded the UCLA Liver Transplant program. He had no problem with doing an agressive treatment.

[rthornton]

My liver surgeon was Dr. George Daneker in Atlanta. I never found very much information about him on the Internet, but he was highly recommended by my oncologist and, I must say, I found him to be a great doctor. My colorectal surgeon, who I also really liked, was Dr. Wayne Ambroze: http://www.gcrsa.com/physician_ambroze.shtml

Rodney

[suzieh]

Hey Rodney,
I agree with you. Dr. Ambroze was my surgeon, laprascopic, which was great. good luck to you.

[Lifes2short]

My surgeon is in Salt Lake City, where I live. But he trained at M.D. Anderson in Houston. I would recommend going there if he's will to travel. They have an excellent reputation.

Good luck!

[Jeremiah]

I had 7 tumors removed from my liver. Actually, 7 removed 1 was ablated.

[Guest]

I had three resected and 5 ablated still ned 16 months later at university of wash.
Raymond Yueng was my liver surgeon and mika Sinnan my colon both top notch.

[Audrey]

Hi,
I had liver resection May 17th 2006 at OHSU in Oregon by Dr. Kevin Billingsley. I had a pet scan on Dec. 18th 2006 and everything showed cancer free. I am doing great and hopefully will continue doing so..I hope your nephew can find a good doctor who can do the surgery for him..Audrey