teacher2017 wrote:Hi all-
I had a colon resection (no bag) last Sept. Went through 12 rounds of chemo (stopped Oxali at 7/8. Was staged at 3c thanks to 12/17 lymphs showing cancer. Finished in April- colonoscopy was clear and all bloodwork has been fine the entire time. Cea is currently 2.1. First scan showed 1cm liver met. MRI confirmed it. Dang it! So angry. Could it have been there from the beginning and was too small to detect? So I meet with my surgeon on Friday for options. Onc says they pop it right out and radiate. She said maybe a little chemo....so what did this surgery entail? What should I expect? I’m so sad to think I’m stage 4. I’m so worried.
juliej wrote:Yes, odds are it was there all along and just too small to see on a CT scan. The good news is they caught it very quick! Good thing you were being closely monitored!
Surgical resection is the gold standard for removing liver mets, but radiofrequency ablation (RFA) therapy is frequently used for a single small met, like in your case. It is one of the least invasive techniques so there's really no downtime. The ablation itself only takes 10-30 minutes and the entire procedure is usually finished in 1-3 hours. There's no overnight hospital stay.
You might have some fatigue or muscle ache during the next few days, but recovery is very rapid. They usually do a CT about a month later to see if the met is gone. if there is evidence the RFA didn't destroy all of the tumor, the procedure may be repeated. The good part is that the RFA destroys very little normal liver. And you're back to your normal life the next day, unlike a liver resection that requires a full-blown surgery.
Radiation is only done when the tumors in the liver are too large for treatment with ablation. Your's is very small so I imagine they'll do RFA.
I understand the news was upsetting but concentrate on them finding it before it got any bigger or before it spread to the rest of the liver. You got this! You'll be back to NEDville before you know it!
Juliej
AppleTree wrote:If it makes you feel any better...I went to Stage IV last summer with a lung met. Had the surgery, DR wanted the follow up chemo, so I did that. My PET in July showed NED. I will take it...for however long it lasts. It seems like it is happening more and more these days. I think when they catch it so small, you have good luck.
AppleTree wrote:If it makes you feel any better...I went to Stage IV last summer with a lung met. Had the surgery, DR wanted the follow up chemo, so I did that. My PET in July showed NED. I will take it...for however long it lasts. It seems like it is happening more and more these days. I think when they catch it so small, you have good luck.
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