StageIV survivor,
Thank u for your most informative response. After 4.5 of completing my chemo treatment I received a recurrence i my liver. The recurrence started early November (from 6 to a 23 for my CA19-9)) and as of this week my CA19-9 is 3,840. I had a very difficult time to get any treatment or 2nd opinions outside of my HMO network and had to wait until January 1 of this year. My first 2nd opinion was with Cedars Sinai - "Center of Excellence". I found the oncologist to be extremely jaded. He knew my oncologist from Hoag. When I told him how many 5FU treatments you had and you were a survivor he almost literally called me a liar and said no dr. would ever approve that many treatments. He discouraged me from going to Mayo Clinic saying he wouldn't and from going to HD Anderson even though they specialize in doing surgeries for cancer around the hepatic artery. He told me my dr at Hoag was on the right course. My last endoscopy (about 2-3 weeks ago) showed lesions under 1 cm on my liver. With my CA19-9 being at over 3800, I'm thinking this beast as spread beyond my liver. Long background before my question: Have you read that "chemo is more effective and faster on treating small amounts of cells then a clustered tumor"? Is this something your dr. told you? I started the gemabraxinecine chemo this week to be followed by viewtherapy radiation. I do have another 2nd opinion from UCLA this Monday, but I decided to start the chemo with my current oncologist at Hoag in the meantime in order to avoid further spread (if possible).