Husband broke down last night

[JJH]

... He is off opiates and on tylenol and tramadol again...

I'm so glad that DH is getting better and wil be able to be discharged soon. I hope things go better once he's at home.
.
In reading your last post I noticed that DH will be on Tylenol. You probably know this already, but I thought I would mention it anyway just in case: Excessive use of Tylenol can cause serious liver damage in certain cases. There is a maximum daily dose of 4000mg that should be observed (see article below). Just because Tylenol is an OTC non-prescription drug doesn't mean that it can be taken at will, whenever we feel like it. There are limits.

Tylenol liver damage
http://www.medicinenet.com/tylenol_liver_damage/article.htm

[mpbser]

Thanks for the heads up, JJH. That's really important to know. I knew that previously but it escaped my mind.... ugh

[cbsmith]

I am glad that he has started to improve. Hopefully he will be able to go home soon.

[mpbser]

thanks everyone. he is doing awesome. He had a liquid lunch and shrimp scampi for dinner. he has only been on Tylenol and he has no pain. his bowels are moving fine. he'll definitely be out tomorrow. last night they made sure of that the other bed in his room would be filled last so he could get some sleep since it was empty and didn't get filled. we are so fortunate to have such a good Hospital so close to home.

[mpbser]

Husband is home, thank goodness. He and I had a chance to speak a bit about the two courses of action his MGH liver surgeon spoke of: Plan A -- heal up from last week's colectomy, then two months chemo, then liver surgery, then four months chemo (seems to be the recommended plan but we will know for sure at our September 12th appointment with his oncologist) versus Plan B -- heal up from last week's colectomy, then liver surgery, then chemo.

If I understand correctly, Plan A would be in the hope that chemo shrinks the right lobe tumor a bit so it would be easier to remove as it is up against a blood vessel and could be chipped out, thus saving the whole lobe.

Given its size and how fast its size may have increased since the June 30th MRI, our concern is whether chemo will be able to have any shrinking effect on it at all. If it's that rapidly growing, then chemo might just stabilize its size.

Also factoring in the tiny spots on the same lobe and the additional option of resecting that entire lobe (30% of the liver) thus avoiding any future growths and/or surgeries for that area, if husband decides to go that route, then chemo for two months prior to surgery would not seem to make any sense.

My husband and I always request rational explanations for why certain treatments are recommended compared to others and hope we get some answers at the upcoming appointment.