mpbser wrote:We got the results from the biopsies from Wednesday's colonoscopy. All the polyps and the the "tumor" came back negative for malignancy. The large polyp that the GI thought was a tumor looks like it could be a "giant" polyp. My husband and I have done a ton of research and because he does not want to lose any more of his colon to surgery, we are seeking to have the polypectomy done with an alternative procedure that is actually the norm in Japan and in much of Asia: endoscopic mucosal resection or endoscopic submucosal dissection. There is an article in Cancer Annual Report 2013 called Endoscopic Resection for Complex Polyps that describes the procedure. I learned about it by stumbling upon http://www.sease.com/polyp/emr.html.
There are only a dozen or so doctors who are trained and experienced with such procedures. Only a few hospitals include them as a "service [they] provide" in their list of services. One doctor in Portland performs hundreds of these each year but we are hoping that we don't have to go that far. One doctor in Boston at Brigham and Women's hospital performs EMR but he can't see my husband until November. Mt. Sinai has a full range of advanced therapeutic endoscopy procedures that are performed there, so it is looking like we are going to focus on going there.
As far as the abdominal MRI results go, they were as good as could possibly be. Whatever is in the liver looks like it can be ablated, if any intervention is needed, and no resection will be necessary, according to our surgeon friend who incidentally did his residency at Mt. Sinai. Nothing else showed up on the MRI.
When describing my husband's Stage IV cancer to my friends this weekend, I called it "Stage IV Light." If it wasn't for some mild "patchy" foci in the liver, there would be no metastasis and his cancer would be Stage III. This is why I am really hesitant to embrace XELOX/CAPOX with all the toxic, terrible effects of the Oxi-, since the side effects can include blood clots and worsen his heart problems.
- Christine
mpbser wrote:What a day yesterday in Boston! So much information, so much to think about. Here's a summary:
Dana Farber
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9.) We asked about what our local doctor might have meant by Oxi- being hard on the veins. Apparently, if given through IV infusions, burns on the arms can develop, sometimes so much so as to require plastic surgery. (This was tough news for husband who really, really, really wants to avoid a port.)
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