(My 54th birthday) I had a consult appointment with my radiologist, Dr. Le, and Danny and I both were really impressed with him. He spent nearly an hour with us, very clearly explaining the chemoembolization procedure which I will soon undergo, and answered many questions we had about my carcinoid. He even showed us the film from my Octreotide scan, and it was interesting to see the tumors.
So...chemoembolization is a combination of delivering chemo to the tumors in my liver and then trapping it in the blood vessels which supply blood to the tumors. The chemo will be injected through my hepatic artery via a catheter (ouch!) as will the embolic agents, which block the chemo in the blood vessels. The procedure takes approximately 90 minutes and I'll be in recovery for 6-8 hours. I will spend at least one night in the hospital, and should be able to resume "normal" activities within a week.
Unlike our presumption that this would be a one-time procedure, chemoembolization is about a 6-week process. The first procedure will target one lobe of the liver, then 2 weeks later, the second lobe will be treated, then 2 weeks later, the entire liver will be treated. I'm certainly not looking forward to all the IV's and catheters, and if more tumors metastasize, the procedure will have to be repeated in 10-14 months.
Reactions to the chemo may include nausea and hair loss, but since the most of the chemo will be trapped in my liver, the reactions should be mild. I am confident they will be non-existent and my hair will stay intact.
First I want to say that I am shocked at all of the terminology you know. I felt like a doctor was telling me. Nancy I am not real good at insurance for cancer but I do work with insurance,that is my job. Also with Tim's mom,she had a massive stroke 9 years ago and is paralyzed,I have learn alot about medicines,home health,insurance, etc. The Indians provide financial aid to women with certain cancers also to pay for the treatments and you do not have to be indian. My thought and prayers are with you, I will keep up with your blog. Love, Kathy Morris
ReplyDeleteDanny and I (especially Danny)have done a ton of research and feel like we have a real grasp of what's going on with this carcinoid stuff. That's a big part of why I decided to do a blog...to inform people...and hopefully if anyone has similar symptoms to mine, he/she will insist on having tests and scans which might lead to an earlier diagnosis. The trouble with carcinoid is that it's usually found by accident or during an autopsy (thank goodness mine was found by accident!) and there are no specific tests until it has metastasized and advanced to carcinoid syndrome.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kathy, for your kind words and the information. So far our insurance seems to be pretty good, and there's a foundation which will subsidize co-pays for people who qualify. Thank you for your prayers!