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CoolBreeze · 09-19-2011, 04:38 PM

Hi Kathy,

My mets were originally found on a CT scan, and then proven with biopsy.

My last herceptin as a Stage II patient was in December. I was thrilled to be done with treatment, but told my oncologist I was experiencing back pain. He did a bone scan and nothing showed up. I still had the pain so he did an abdominal CT. That was clean, including my liver. So, I just tried to ignore it.

I went on a 3 month schedule of seeing him so in April told him that my back pain continued. And, my abdomen had started bloating. Being the excellent doctor he is, he decided to rescan me with another abdominal CT. This time, we found the mets. They had grown from zero to more than 3 cm in five months.

But, the bloating nor the back pain are not explained by the liver mets - it's just one of those things. I've been scanned and Petted every which way and the only cancer is in my liver.

I went on Navelbine, Zometa and Herceptin. I was scanned again 2 months later and got mixed result. Two mets shrunk, one stayed about the same. My oncologist had heard of the doctor I linked to - that he was aggressive in trying to cure cancer patients. My onc knew I still wanted a cure and not just treatment, so he called him. The guy agreed to see me and the rest is history.

I'm very pleased to see that a few have had the surgery - some seem to do quite well. Michka, I think I remember your story - you had a rather hard time, yes?

I am a healthy eater so I don't foresee many problems there. If I never drink alcohol again I'll be fine but I sure will miss my ice cream and chocolate.

I'm looking into renting a recliner for my house when I get home, so I can sleep. I remember with past surgeries how very hard it is to get in and out of bed and I can only imagine that this one will be worse, so I should prepare.

If you all have any suggestions for post-surgery management, I'd appreciate them. I know I'll have to move a little. They have scheduled me for a 7 day hospital stay but I hope it's not that long!!!

09-19-2011, 04:38 PM	#9
CoolBreeze Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 562	Re: Liver Resection Surgery Hi Kathy, My mets were originally found on a CT scan, and then proven with biopsy. My last herceptin as a Stage II patient was in December. I was thrilled to be done with treatment, but told my oncologist I was experiencing back pain. He did a bone scan and nothing showed up. I still had the pain so he did an abdominal CT. That was clean, including my liver. So, I just tried to ignore it. I went on a 3 month schedule of seeing him so in April told him that my back pain continued. And, my abdomen had started bloating. Being the excellent doctor he is, he decided to rescan me with another abdominal CT. This time, we found the mets. They had grown from zero to more than 3 cm in five months. But, the bloating nor the back pain are not explained by the liver mets - it's just one of those things. I've been scanned and Petted every which way and the only cancer is in my liver. I went on Navelbine, Zometa and Herceptin. I was scanned again 2 months later and got mixed result. Two mets shrunk, one stayed about the same. My oncologist had heard of the doctor I linked to - that he was aggressive in trying to cure cancer patients. My onc knew I still wanted a cure and not just treatment, so he called him. The guy agreed to see me and the rest is history. I'm very pleased to see that a few have had the surgery - some seem to do quite well. Michka, I think I remember your story - you had a rather hard time, yes? I am a healthy eater so I don't foresee many problems there. If I never drink alcohol again I'll be fine but I sure will miss my ice cream and chocolate. I'm looking into renting a recliner for my house when I get home, so I can sleep. I remember with past surgeries how very hard it is to get in and out of bed and I can only imagine that this one will be worse, so I should prepare. If you all have any suggestions for post-surgery management, I'd appreciate them. I know I'll have to move a little. They have scheduled me for a 7 day hospital stay but I hope it's not that long!!! __________________ http://butdoctorihatepink.com 08/17/09 Dx'd. Multifocal/multicentric IDC, largest 3.4 cm, associated ADH, LCIS, DCIS HER2+ ER+/PR- Grade 3, Node Negative 10/20/2009: Right mastectomy, reconstruction with TE 12/02/2009: Six rounds TCH, switched to Taxol halfway through due to neuropathy 03/31/2010: Finished chemo 05/01/2010: Began tamoxifen, the worst drug ever 11/18/2010: Reconstruction completed 12/02/2010: Finished herceptin 05/21/2011: Liver Mets. Quit Tamoxifen 06/22/2011: Navelbine/Zometa/Herceptin 10/03/2011: Liver Resection, left lobe. Microwave ablation, right lobe - going for cure! 11/26/2011: C-Diff Superbug Infection, "worst case doctor had seen in 20 years" 03/28/2012: Progression in ablated section of the liver - no more cure. Started Abraxane, continue herceptin/zometa 10/10/2012: Progression continues, started Halaven, along with herceptin and zometa. 01/15/2013: Progression continues, started Gemzar and Perjeta, an unusual combo, continuing with herceptin and zometa 03/13/2013: Quit Gemzar, body just won't handle it. Staying on herceptin, zometa and perjeta. 04/03/2013: CT shows 50% regression in tumor, so am starting back on Gemzar with dose reduction, staying with perjeta/herceptin/zometa. Can't argue with success! 05/09/2013: Discussing SBRT with Radiology due to inability of bone marrow to recover from chemo. 06/07/2013: Fiducial placement for SBRT 07/03/2013: Chemo discontinued, on Perjeta, Herceptin and Zometa alone 07/25/2013: SBRT (gamma knife) begins 08/01/2013: SBRT completed 08/15/2013: STABLE! continuing with Perjeta, Herceptin, Zometa 06/18/2014: *** NED!!!!*** continuing with Perjeta, Herceptin, Zometa 01/29/2014: Still NED. continuing with Perjeta, Herceptin. Zometa lowered to every 3 months instead of monthly. 11/08/2015: Progression throughout abdomen and lungs. Started TDM-1, aka Kadcyla. Other meds discontinued. Remission was nice while it lasted. 5/27/18: Stable. Kadcyla put me right back in the barn. I have two teeny spots on my lungs that are metabolically inactive, and liver is clean. I’m beating this MFer. I was 51 when this started and had two kids, 22 and 12. Now I’m 60. My oldest got married and trying to start s family. My youngesg graduates from Caltech this June. My stepdaughter gave me grandkids. Life is fantastic.