Y-90 liver cancer treatment: What's your experience?

I don't understand the comment that "gg B response was very low. They have never used alphabetic letters to describe my response? Can you clarify a little?

We are in the process of trying to get Y90 approved for my husbands liver tumors. Its being declined because the liver is where his head and neck cancer metastasized and it is not an approved treatment for H & N cancer. I'm looking for medical data to support the success of Y90. He had unknown primary but the progression of cancer has been in the liver and possible growth in a few bones

I don’t know anything about the H and N cancer and couldn’t even speculate. I have cancerous carcinomas on my liver but not cancer in my liver. Thank God it’s nothing metastasized into my liver. I wonder if that’s the reason y90 works for me. They fill the little bugers with the radiation beads and let them do their work. If they don’t recommend y90 what do they recommend for the liver? I wonder if they have 3 plans, one for H and N, one for the bones, and one for the liver. My interventional radiologist seems to have other tricks up his sleeve if this doesn’t work.

Are you just seeing a cancer dr or an interventional radiologist?

Where do you live? Would be happy to share mine! I’m in Denver and going to CU Medical Center and have endless trust in their specialists. But with that said if your going to Mayo it’s one of the best in the world.

My shoot is Tuesday. I’ll pray for you if you pray for me 😀.

Prayer to you! and thank you. We have a good IR and cancer doctor. We are in WI and treat in IL. We trust the doctors and trust that God will lead our team for the proper treatment and tools to dispute insurance. Prayer for success tomorrow. .

I had my Y90 treatment 10 days ago. Unlike the first one i am suffering some side effects. Biggest problem is a little lethargy but the biggest is stomach pain. IR Doc said could last as long as two weeks so almost through it. Has anyone else experienced the paid in the abdomen? CT in three weeks and we'll get an idea if with worked. Blessings, Diane

Diane, I'm sorry to hear you weren't quite so lucky avoiding side effects with this Y90 round of treatment. Is the pain constant or are there times that it subsides? Are you able to eat okay?

The pain is pretty constant and eating is difficult but I make myself eat small amounts. They gave me oxy pills but I'm really afraid of them and only take one in the evenings. Can take as many a 4 or 6 a day. This is Monday, two weeks from the procedure and I'm starting to feel better. Will have CT in two weeks to see if we got tumor kill.

Hi Diane, I hope you’re feeling better as time passes. Have you talked to your team about your concerns with taking oxycodone? I can understand your hesitancy. Are you concerned about feeling “out of it”? Or their reputation of being addictive? Or something else?

Thanks for you lt reply.I’m mostly concerned about the fact they are addictive, IR doctor said not to worry with what little I take. Turns out won’t be a problem. The pain just left. Stopped as quickly as it started, it’s a blessing to live without the pain.

Diane, wow, I'm so glad that the pain suddenly disappeared. That's great.

Should your pain return, I want to reduce your concern about addiction with opioids, which is shared by many.
See this article about Pain Management from Virtual Hospice.
- Pain https://www.virtualhospice.ca/en_US/Main+Site+Navigation/Home/Topics/Topics/Symptoms+_+Health+Concerns/Pain.aspx

In particular, I'd like to share this excerpt:
"Opioids are very safe when used under the supervision of an experienced health care professional and adjusted in proportion to the amount of pain. Unfortunately, there are many myths and misunderstandings about opioids, which continue to be a barrier to adequate pain control for people. These are some common misunderstandings:

"Won’t I become addicted?"
When opioids are used for pain control, addiction does not happen. The body does become more used to the medication, which will mean that the dose may need to be increased, however this is not addiction – it is called tolerance. Addiction is when there is an overwhelming preoccupation with obtaining more medication, without any medical need for it. This does not happen when opioids are used for pain control.

"I don’t want to start morphine too soon because it won’t work when I really need it."
This concern is without any scientific or medical basis. Opioids can be used with good effect for as long as they are needed, and the dose can be adjusted to whatever level is needed for pain relief. The best way to manage pain is to control it early.

"Those drugs will speed up my disease."
Opioids do not affect how an illness progresses, they simply help relieve suffering associated with the illness."

I hope this helps. May you continue to be pain free.