Hi Jessica (and Kristen!)
I am the woman that Kristen referred to above. I had a 1cm spot on my liver that was there from the beginning. I was originally Stage II when diagnosed at the beginning of this year. Pre-chemo scans showed that I had a couple of spots on my liver that they thought were hemangiomas, which are just things you are born with and benign. We decided to push through my first two sets of chemo and then do scans to determine if they were still there, thinking that the chemo would stave off any further growth if they were cancerous.
To make a long story short, one of the spots was a hemangioma and the other ended up being cancer. I had a post-chemo PET/CT to help determine this. We looked at all of the options, but decided to have the resection so that we could have the biopsied tissue and determine if it was similar to my primary tumor site on the breast (ER-, PR-, Her2+++). Anyway, the resection was scary, but very easy in terms of recovery. It was especially easy in comparison to my bilateral mastectomy and TRAM flap reconstruction surgery.
The worst part for me was dealing with a surgeon who did not know a lot about breast cancer. He was very negative, but in the end, was the best liver surgeon. Patients were flying in town to see him. He was really good. I am doing carboplatin and taxotere as additional insurance against recurrence. I did EC and Taxol+Herceptin before.
I would encourage you to find the best liver surgeon in the area. If your onc has recommended someone that you feel comfortable with, then that is great. I have learned with these organ surgeries that it is better to have someone who cuts well, than someone who has a great personality. You want the liver surgeon who does transplants and things like that so that your resection is a slam dunk...a no-brainer. That is how my guy was. I really think he was bored with my surgery as it was not glamorous. I had to wait all day fasting as he kept pushing my surgery back for the more needy cases, but I just put up with it because he was the best.
Also, they did an interoperational sonogram to determine that the rest of the liver looked great. I don't know if this is part of your procedure, but make sure that your surgeon can do this. This is really the best way for them to determine that there are no other lesions on the liver. It sounds like your scans are giving you good information so this will just give you even better verification that you are on the mend.
I know it is hard as it has been a challenge for me, but try to remember that there are no other spots on the liver. Believe that when this is removed that your cancer is gone. I talked to my onc regarding my liver function and they said my liver function has been great. It sounds the same for you. I would encourage you to believe that your liver does not even know it has cancer.
Please feel free to e-mail me at
lplunkett@kc.rr.com if you want any more information. My liver surgeon is here in Kansas City, but I would give you any information you would like...or would just talk to you about the surgery.
Best wishes,
Laura
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