HIPEC - Desciption Very Graphic

[GrouseMan]

People here often talk about wanting HIPEC surgery for their colon cancer mets. The following link is a very descriptive and also full of graphic detail about one mans search and resulting HIPEC surgery for mets from his appendix cancer. The procedure would be the same for someone with mets from Colorectal Cancer as well. Its pretty detailed in its description and discussion. Have a Read:

http://www.statnews.com/2016/03/24/appe ... treatment/

Best regards,

GrouseMan

[lpas]

Very, very interesting. Thanks so much for posting this.

Are you and your wife still considering this as a possibility for her? Any thoughts of petitioning the insurance company for coverage?

[vilca11]

WOW!!!! That is informative, to say the least... I do not remember reading HIPEC surgery reports in Hopkins, they probably do not do it... Yes, for that type of surgery one does need the best hands, otherwise there will be no benefits from that butchering..Thanks for posting, Grouse Man...

And it states that direct heated chemo can take care only of microscopic stuff... That is "consoling" - why to do systemic chemo in that case for all of us? I remember reading somewhere, that while placebo group has 50% OS or PFS, do not remember exactly, the chemo group had 60%... Is that all for all our suffering? Lousy 10% difference?

Sorry, in a heavy mood today...
Hugs, Vilca

[H is for Hawk]

This article tells a very real story about the trauma of HIPEC surgery. The folks at Memorial Sloan Kettering referred me to the same Dr. B. at the University of Pittsburgh for my HIPEC ordeal last June and had a very difficult recovery just like the patient in the article. I remember being so weak that I could barely walk ten feet to the hospital room bathroom. I had to put a chair in the bathroom so I could sit down when brushing my teeth, washing my hands or showering. It was like I was In a bad car accident. For several weeks I could barely eat a forkful of food at mealtime, the constant nausea and constipation was unrelenting. My body was In a turmoil from all the cutting and tissue removal; I had an elevated heart rate of 130 beats per minute for two continuous months post surgery. My mental state also declined, I went into a deep depression for several months, feeling withdrawn, and uninterested in other people and the world in general.

[GrouseMan]

Very, very interesting. Thanks so much for posting this.

Are you and your wife still considering this as a possibility for her? Any thoughts of petitioning the insurance company for coverage?

No - this has never been a consideration for her. She had involvement in her liver and Spleen, and for a while they thought her lungs. Liver has been stable for a long time. Spleen Met disappeared according to the CT scans. With these already in evidence I doubt we could ever find anyone that would consider doing this. The risks are too high and the potential gains too small. Quality of life would suffer too much and for potentially little gain. Right now she is in a study, every other week irinotecan, and Erbitux, with either Avastin or placebo. Though she thinks its likely she is getting the Avastin, because of the issues with her runny nose. The switch from 5-FU to Erbitux means no more pump, and she thinks that the 5-FU/Irinotecan (Folfiri) she was previously on made her slightly nauseous. For three days there she was very careful about what she ate and her appetite was low. This new study protocol, she just started Monday, with none of the nausea. She has been very tolerant of chemo, and this particular new protocol, she has had no issues with other than the usual fatigue and perhaps less so this time around. She actually remained awake almost all evening. She would have crashed much earlier on the FOLFIRI/Avastin protocol. So far no rash or reaction from the Erbitux.

Overall - My feeling is that Hipec is for the young physically fit folks out there. And although my wife was quite physically fit compared to most people her age she will be 56 in a couple of months, and that in itself would make it hard to bounce back from that type of surgery in my opinion. I am hoping that things can be slowed or stabilized to the point we can garner time for other studies to present themselves - mostly those in Immunotherapy.

Regards,

GrouseMan

[tigerpaw]

My HIPEC experience was very different - probably because of limited disease and good general condition. I was out of hospital after 8 days and back to work after 6 weeks. No recurrence yet, after more than a year.

[Cowgirl918]

My roommate underwent HIPEC for spread of colon and appendix cancer-mucinous. She was well over the age limit at 69 but she sailed through it like a healthy 20 year old. I was so worried and I stayed with her in ICU to watch everything. She did need to rest for 6 weeks after discharge but was eating and moving very soon after surgery. I watched her do laps (slowly) around the ICU. While it is drastic and actually frightening to me, everyone has a different response to this also it seems.

[Cancerislame]

Hello,

Here is another link for HIPEC. This story is about another patient's surgery but I was interviewed about my procedures weeks prior from the same surgeon. My surgery was almost 4 years ago and I have been cancer free since. I did have a bowel obstruction about 5 weeks after the surgery but it was a side effect I was prepared to handle. Another surgery was performed and I have not had any other issues besides scar tissue but pelvic floor therapy has helped that. I also did 1 year of Xeloda for maintenance which I am sure has helped my survival.

I hope this helps some of you considering HIPEC.

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/jun/19/ca ... tment-sho/

Jennifer

[Cancerislame]

Hello,

Here is another link for HIPEC. This story is about another patient's surgery but I was interviewed about my procedures weeks prior from the same surgeon. My surgery was almost 4 years ago and I have been cancer free since. I did have a bowel obstruction about 5 weeks after the surgery but it was a side effect I was prepared to handle. Another surgery was performed and I have not had any other issues besides scar tissue but pelvic floor therapy has helped that. I also did 1 year of Xeloda for maintenance which I am sure has helped my survival.

I hope this helps some of you considering HIPEC.

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/jun/19/ca ... tment-sho/

Jennifer