Liver mets: resection, ablation, SBRT, Y-90, anything else?

JFL I was also told about the urine- thankfully when I took my apt in the city I insisted on 1 1/2 baths. We've had to use it due to chemo and now this. My DH and I were allowed to sleep in our respective corners of our king bed as per the IR.

I met with my MO today. She wants me to stay on Doxil at least until after the Y90 on 4/6. Since its working on the liver mets she wants to bang the dickens out of the liver before we make any changes. Sounded reasonable to me so I agreed and had my infusion tonight. Plus, she said that the radiologist felt that what is going on in my lungs is more inflammatory in nature. Hope so!

Babs

Grannax, liver mets are certainly tricky buggers. The microenvironment in the liver is a rich feast of resources and options for them to grow in countless ways and find new paths when one is blocked. All of the blood and oxygen in the organ and all of the sugar and fructose stored there makes things very easy for those damn buggers to thrive. I have heard that lung mets tend to do better than liver but like all of this, everything is person by person. Things can change on a dime which is one of the worst things about this disease. I have an outlook like you that it is important to focus on and defend against all cancer activity, wherever it is located. In the beginning, my bones were putting me in a life-threating predicament with uncontrollable hypercalcemia. No metastatic breast cancer, regardless of location, is acceptable to blow off!

bstein Zarvoka had sbrt. 💞

bstein - I had SBRT to get rid of a sternum met that was not responding to anything. different local treatments for different situations.

>Z<

I had my bland embolization yesterday and will be getting my RFA done today.

I really didnt know what to expect for the embolization. This website really did a good job explaining the procedure. I had slight sedation, but was pretty aware the entire time; the procedure lasted about an hour. A little discomfort when they inserted the catheter, but otherwise no pain or pressure. After, I’ve had some abdominal pain/cramping, which the doctor said is normal and should go away after a day or so. It can be done outpatient, but because of RFA today, they just kept me overnight in the hospital to make things easier. I had to lie flat for four hours after to ensure no bleeding.

The IR did the procedure for two main reasons- the embolization cuts off blood flow to the tumor and the injected dye will help him visualize things better for the RFA. He was pleased by the uptake of dye in the tumor and said I was “lucky” in that only one artery is feeding my tumor(s). He still isnt sure if its one or a conglomeration of a few, but anytime I’m told I am lucky, I will take it! Will report back after the RFA!

jamiemarie I'm glad you found this thread. It has been a great help to me, too. Hoping for a great outcome for you today. Will you have to have the other lobe done too? I did but it was about a month out from the first one.💞

Hi Grannax and BabyRuth, thank you for thinking of me! I’m back home after the RFA, by all accounts, IR was really pleased. Recovery has been a bear, though, I’m in quite a bit of pain. I was supposed to go home after the procedure on Tuesday, but couldnt get my pain under control, so stayed another day. The dr said that was to be expected, though- he ablated a lot of tumor, it was close to my lung, and it was in/close to my nerve capsule. I wasnt expecting the pain, though, so its been a bit rough!

I have a follow up CT scan in a month to see how things are looking. Grannax, my tumors are all on one lobe, so I dont need the other lobe done at this point. I’m excited to be done and hopefully see good results, but the pain has really dampened things a lot! Hoping it will get better quickly!!

jamiemarie. Glad you're home but sorry to hear about the pain. I didn't have that but I guess it does depend on there they are. Praying for good results.💞

janiemarie I had pain after my SBRT to my liver area. I wasn’t expecting it either, quite uncomfortable and scary. My first CT scan was alarming with stat calls to every Dr. It was just local reaction to the radiation. 9 month post CT showed no evidence of metastatic disease. 12 month follow up CT is April 9. Pain was unexpected but was good news for me!

hi Jamie,

I hope your pain is getting better. I had ablation in 2011 and I remember having pain/ tenderness for a couple of weeks. The good thing is that I have been Ned since the ablation. I hope you have as good as results as I did.

Lauri

Hi Laurie, wow thats amazing! Congratulations! That gives me so much hope!

It makes me feel oddly comforted that you had pain too, I feel after getting better each day, I took a step back today. I held off on narcotics so I could make a quick trip to the grocery store (I know, I know!) and then think i waited too long to take something and am struggling to get the pain back under control.

Nothing like pain and feeling poorly to remember all is not well Im a single mom, and my parents had to head back today, so it feels defeating when i can’t watch my four year old.Im not really sure that I can manage going back to work Monday yet either, which is giving me some anxiety! I just need to cut myself some slack and rest!

jamiemarie- how are you feeling? Is the pain level getting more tolerable?

JFL- glad to see you are done with the mapping and ready for the next step.

Babe, I am glad all went well with your 2nd Y-90 procedure. I hope you recovery is quick and painless and the results are nothing short of spectacular! You are amazing.

Hugs and prayers from, Lynne

P.S.I saw the picture on another thread of all your beautiful grandchildren together. What a special time it was to have both your children and all your grandchildren together. Just thinking about it makes me smile.

I forgot jamiemarie, sorry.

And kaufmanscal, sorry again. 😕 My memory ain't what it used to be. I think there are several waiting for the right timing to have theirs done. The club sure has more members than when I had mine one year ago.💞