Hubby had liver resection for liver mets

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angielada
Posts: 10
Joined: Wed May 13, 2015 5:14 am

Hubby had liver resection for liver mets

Postby angielada » Tue Aug 09, 2016 4:52 am

Hi all,
So, the hubby finally got his liver mets small enough to be eligible for resection!
We were so excited about the news, we almost instantly took off for vacation (after a good long cry of course.)

He had the surgery a week and half ago and he is home recovering. So far, a slow recovery - but he is getting better each day.

We have post-op tomorrow and I'm a little afraid to hear any news.

There were 3-4 small spots in the lower right corner that the surgeon was able to get... but after surgery she mentioned there was an area in the back that would need radioembolization.

Does anyone know about this?
Does that mean the surgery wasn't successful?

I've read a little about RE to liver mets - but it seems it's more for palliative than curative treatment.
The original plan was to get all remaining mets out, so this has me worried that they couldn't do it. :-(

Thoughts? Similar stories/experiences?

Thank you everyone!
Wife of stage iv cc
11-20-14: stage iii colon resection
12-20-14: started chemo oxiliplatin xeloda every 3 weeks about 6.5 months i think
9-1-15: ct clear
2-8-16: upgraded to stage iv liver and abdominal mets very aggressive kras mutation positive
2-12-16: start chemo folfiri with avastin
7-28-16: Liver resection
2-10-17: spots back in liver
4-17-17 : radioablation is scheduled
May 17; radioablation
July 17: radioablation
Sept '17: radioablation canceled bc of new spots.
Sept '17: Starting Folfox

Lee
Posts: 6207
Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2006 4:09 pm

Re: Hubby had liver resection for liver mets

Postby Lee » Tue Aug 09, 2016 9:05 pm

angielada wrote:There were 3-4 small spots in the lower right corner that the surgeon was able to get... but after surgery she mentioned there was an area in the back that would need radioembolization.

Does anyone know about this?
Does that mean the surgery wasn't successful?

I


I don't have answers to your questions. Hope by bumping this to the top, others will see it and hopefully someone with knowledge will respond. Congratulations to your DH on making it through surgery and making it HOME. Always the best.

Lee
rectal cancer - April 2004
46 yrs old at diagnoses
stage III C - 6/13 lymph positive
radiation - 6 weeks
surgery - August 2004/hernia repair 2014
permanent colostomy
chemo - FOLFOX
NED - 16 years and counting!

mariane
Posts: 704
Joined: Sun Sep 13, 2015 6:16 pm

Re: Hubby had liver resection for liver mets

Postby mariane » Tue Aug 09, 2016 9:33 pm

Fantastic blog and positive story about RE;

http://karenscancer.blogspot.com/
mom of now 14 years old twins, dx @ 40 in 6/2015 with upper rectal cancer, 10+ liver mets, CEA 140
chemo: 8/2015 - 10/2016 - 4xFOLFIRINOX, 2xFOLFOX, 8xFOLFIRI, 10x5FU, HAI pump -12xFUDR
4 surgeries, complete pathological response
CEA<2 since 10/2015
NED since May 2016

I praise God for every day with my family!

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LPL
Posts: 651
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2016 12:49 am
Location: Europe

Re: Hubby had liver resection for liver mets

Postby LPL » Sat Aug 27, 2016 1:05 pm

Hi angielada,

I hope your post-op appointment went well !!

My hubby is having a liver resection Sept 1st and I was looking for threads talking about this, and found yours.

You wrote:
"He had the surgery a week and half ago and he is home recovering. So far, a slow recovery - but he is getting better each day. "

Can I ask how your husband is feeling now?
How has he recovered in strength etc?
It has been around a month recovery so far for him I presume.

The reason I ask is that a long time ago... in the Life 'before diagnose', we booked a trip with 2 friends to go to an event in Canada, via Californien (train+bus up along the cost to Canada). This trip is scheduled for Oct 9-23. We live in France.

In the beginning of this 'new life' that has included multiple surgeries and 4 chemo so far, I was sure(!) we had to cancel this trip. Hubby has not wanted to 'talk about it'.. but recently he has said he want to go!! if he will feel OK and not be a 'burden' to us who travel with him. I asked the surgeon if it was possible, he said yes. Listening to the surgeon it sounds as, recovery-vice (is that a word?) it will be like a gall bladder surgery.. I have never had that so can't compare and hubby had the gall bladder removed 'as an extra' at his primary colon resection so that doesn't help us/me understand either.

Sorry for many words.
Just wanted to hear how your husband has experienced the recovery from his liver surgery?

All the best to You. Kind Regards /LPL
DH @ 65 DX 4/11/16 CC recto-sigmoid junction
Adenocarcenoma 35x15x9mm G3(biopsi) G1(surgical)
Mets 3 Liver resectable
T4aN1bM1a IVa 2/9 LN
MSS, KRAS-mut G13D
CEA & CA19-9: 5/18 2.5 78 8/17 1.4 48 2/14/17 1.8 29
4 Folfox 6/15-7/30 (b4 liver surgery) 8 after
CT: 8/8 no change 3/27/17 NED->Jan-19 mets to lung NED again Oct-19 :)
:!: Steroid induced hyperglycemia dx after 3chemo
Surgeries 2016: 3/18 Emergency colostomy
5/23 Primary+gallbl+stoma reversal+port 9/1 Liver mets
RFA 2019: Feb & Oct lung mets

User avatar
LPL
Posts: 651
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2016 12:49 am
Location: Europe

Re: Hubby had liver resection for liver mets

Postby LPL » Sat Aug 27, 2016 2:19 pm

P.S. If anyone else can share their experience - Thank you in advance.
DH @ 65 DX 4/11/16 CC recto-sigmoid junction
Adenocarcenoma 35x15x9mm G3(biopsi) G1(surgical)
Mets 3 Liver resectable
T4aN1bM1a IVa 2/9 LN
MSS, KRAS-mut G13D
CEA & CA19-9: 5/18 2.5 78 8/17 1.4 48 2/14/17 1.8 29
4 Folfox 6/15-7/30 (b4 liver surgery) 8 after
CT: 8/8 no change 3/27/17 NED->Jan-19 mets to lung NED again Oct-19 :)
:!: Steroid induced hyperglycemia dx after 3chemo
Surgeries 2016: 3/18 Emergency colostomy
5/23 Primary+gallbl+stoma reversal+port 9/1 Liver mets
RFA 2019: Feb & Oct lung mets

Pyro
Posts: 305
Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2015 7:40 pm
Location: Tucson, AZ

Re: Hubby had liver resection for liver mets

Postby Pyro » Sun Aug 28, 2016 1:39 am

I have had 2 liver surgeries, I was tired, lethargic and somewhat bedridden for about 2 weeks following my surgery. I felt much better after that time, I could have traveled and enjoyed a vacation. I could have not lifted anything more than about 5 pounds without seriously injuring myself, I think that is your major issue with travel. I am quite a bit younger though.
Aug 2015- Stage 4 CC with liver Mets(38/m)
Sep 2015- Avastin/Folfox/Iron
Dec 2015-Not liver surgery candidate
Jan 2016- Erbitux/Folfiri, 2nd opinion at MDA in TX
Feb 2016 -MDA liver surgery
Mar 2016 -30% of left lobe rem, PVE
May 2016 - 70% of liver rem
Jun 2016-Rad
Jan 2017-perm colost @MDA
Jul 2017-Erb/FOLFURI
Nov 2017 -Lung & Liver ablations@MDA
Jan 2018 -Xeloda & Avastin mx
Jul 2018-Avast/FOLFURI
Sep 2018-Rad
Mar 2019 - Keytruda fail
Jun 2019 - FOLFURI
Aug 2019 - No more, quality time!

User avatar
LPL
Posts: 651
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2016 12:49 am
Location: Europe

Re: Hubby had liver resection for liver mets

Postby LPL » Sun Aug 28, 2016 2:36 am

Pyro,

Thank you for your reply regarding how you felt after the surgery, the 'not lifting' - yes I am aware of that since hubby has had 2 previous stomach surgeries.

Your first words:
" You're worried about your vacation after liver surgery? That's where I will stop on that and get more real."

Those words made me very sad :(

Please forgive me if you wrote that because I used wrong words (English is not my 1st language) and my writing made it sound as I (!) cared about a vacation.
That is so Not true!!! You don't know me but If you did you would know where my priorities are.. it is NOT thinking about ME.
To me it is Not easy to be the wife (maybe other caregivers understand?) and know what is best for hubby. Will going on this vacation be good for HIM?? (As we understand it he will start chemo again after that 'resting' period).
Personally I would rather just stay at home,
BUT this is Not about me!

I wish all the best for you going forward /LPL
DH @ 65 DX 4/11/16 CC recto-sigmoid junction
Adenocarcenoma 35x15x9mm G3(biopsi) G1(surgical)
Mets 3 Liver resectable
T4aN1bM1a IVa 2/9 LN
MSS, KRAS-mut G13D
CEA & CA19-9: 5/18 2.5 78 8/17 1.4 48 2/14/17 1.8 29
4 Folfox 6/15-7/30 (b4 liver surgery) 8 after
CT: 8/8 no change 3/27/17 NED->Jan-19 mets to lung NED again Oct-19 :)
:!: Steroid induced hyperglycemia dx after 3chemo
Surgeries 2016: 3/18 Emergency colostomy
5/23 Primary+gallbl+stoma reversal+port 9/1 Liver mets
RFA 2019: Feb & Oct lung mets

DarknessEmbraced
Posts: 3816
Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2014 4:54 pm
Facebook Username: Riann Fletcher
Location: New Brunswick, Canada

Re: Hubby had liver resection for liver mets

Postby DarknessEmbraced » Sun Aug 28, 2016 7:13 am

I hope that your husband's recovery and post op appointment go well.*hugs* I know others who have had liver mets will be able to answer your questions. I wish you and your husband all the best!*hugs*
Diagnosed 10/28/14, age 36
Colon Resection 11/20/14, LAR (no illeo)
Stage 2a colon cancer, T3NOMO
Lymph-vascular invasion undetermined
0/22 lymph nodes
No chemo, no radiation
Clear Colonoscopy 04/29/15
NED 10/20/15
Ischemic Colitis 01/21/16
NED 11/10/16
CT Scan moved up due to high CEA 08/21/17
NED 09/25/17
NED 12/21/18
Clear colonoscopy 09/23/19
Clear 5 year scans 11/21/19- Considered cured! :)

kandj
Posts: 314
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2015 11:29 am

Re: Hubby had liver resection for liver mets

Postby kandj » Sun Aug 28, 2016 10:31 am

*sorry for any typos, writing with a broken wrist*

DH had his liver resection and radiofrequency ablation done in May. His surgeon was very optimistic about the treatment and it was never mentioned as only pallative. His team was definitely going for curative intent. The liver surgeon said size was a very important indicator when it came to the chances of them coming back. There is no way they could have cut all the tumors out of DH, even after 70% shrinkage. DH's recovery had some bumps, but he is back on chemo and FUDR (has the HAI pump) and we are very hopeful.
wife to DH, dx 8/15 stage IV @36, 12+ liver Mets
HAI placed 12/15
Liver resect 5/19/2016 15-20 mets (surgeon lost count)
Liver Recurrence 7/2017-radiation
Lung met 10/18 VATS
lung/adrenal gland recurrence 11/19
Adrenal ablation 2/20 VATS 3/20
Radiation: 9/20 adrenal gland, 2/21 pancreatic node
9/2021 liver, 4/22 esophageal node
7/2023 proton therapy: liver
140+ rounds of chemo and counting
Chest nodes, lung nodules, and esophageal nodes currently.

angielada
Posts: 10
Joined: Wed May 13, 2015 5:14 am

Re: Hubby had liver resection for liver mets

Postby angielada » Tue Apr 18, 2017 3:52 am

So sorry for the months later reply!
Hopefully this can help someone down the road.

His recovery after the resection seemed to be worse than all the treatments. It really knocked him down!
Mostly, I think it was the extra large cut and location. Moving was very difficult and it was more depressing for him than I thought it would be.
Also his incision did not heal properly and there was practically a hole you could see through, which really made him panick a lot..but I read and we were told that it was not to be worried over and would heal with some extra care, and it did. :)

Unfortunately, the spots that the surgeon couldn't see did pop back up on a recent ct and he will be going in for radioablation in the next week or so. Fingers crossed that'll get the last of them.

The surgery board believes these are in fact the leftover from the surgery, and not new recurrent ones. So, we are trying to be optimistic and praying no more chemo after.
Wife of stage iv cc
11-20-14: stage iii colon resection
12-20-14: started chemo oxiliplatin xeloda every 3 weeks about 6.5 months i think
9-1-15: ct clear
2-8-16: upgraded to stage iv liver and abdominal mets very aggressive kras mutation positive
2-12-16: start chemo folfiri with avastin
7-28-16: Liver resection
2-10-17: spots back in liver
4-17-17 : radioablation is scheduled
May 17; radioablation
July 17: radioablation
Sept '17: radioablation canceled bc of new spots.
Sept '17: Starting Folfox


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