On Thursday night, I was able to get on my Advent Health portal and see some of the lab results requested by the liver dr. . The liver fibrosis came back as being a 3 (out of 4 stages/not really sure what to call it. ). Then on Friday, I saw my oncologist again. Shr had not seen the any of the test results b/c the wasn't the ordering dr, & had not heard from Dr. the liver Dr yet. She thankfully could go in and download the results from the AdventHealth site & is going to call the liver dr for me to find out what he is thinking/planning in regards to further testing, etc. The liver fibrosis test appears toindicate that there is some liver disease beyond the cancer in the liver. We don't know if he'll still want to do a liver biopsy to get more information or not. On the liver disease, my oncologist said the liver can regenerate some especially if caused by a drug when you get off the drug though it may take a while.. She said it is hard to know what caused it as I've heavily treated with chemo, it was full of cancer back in 2012, and there has also been radiation on it twice. All of that decreased the cancer and has given me time so I think the best decisions were made that we could make. There may be a med that could help slow it, but the only treatment that would stop it completely would be a liver transplant which they would never do on me b/c of the cancer
I am still having major swelling both as edema under the skin & in my abdomen. When you are carrying 20-30 lbs of extra fluid, it is crazy how much that can make your back, etc. hurt as well. My oncologist has upped both of my diuretics. This new dose does seem to be working better. She is also putting a standing paracentesis order in so that I can just call and schedule it when things get really bad. She did tell me to wait until I’m super uncomfortable b/c it probably is just going to come back until the liver situation gets better. Unfortunately, the paracentesis only gets rid of the fluid in the abdominal cavity but not the fluid under the skin.
My oncologist thinks the gemzar is what really did this, but since the halaven took counts so low, etc. and b/c of the liver damage, she thinks switching to Abraxane is a better option. There are apparently different dosing levels for people with liver disease. I started the Abraxane on Friday at a low dose, and she said we could always go up if needed.
Abraxane is in the taxol family (Haleven was as well). Hair loss is a defiinite on this drug; so, I will be continuing to wear my hats. This chemo is infused 2 weeks on then off 1 week. My oncologist doesn’t expect the counts to go as low on this chemo. It can cause nausea, stomach stuff, neuropathy & all the typical chemo side effects, but she said typically it is tolerated pretty well. So far, the only side effects I've had are related to the fluid not the chemo.
Sorry this was a bit long, but I wanted to ask for specific prayers related to what is going on. I"m hoping that everyone has a wonderful weekend and a Happy Mother's Day!
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