I have been diagnosed with Gallbladder cancer. Already had surgery to remove the T4- Stage 4a tumor that invaded half my liver, a portion of my intestines and bile ducts which were all removed. I’ve never even heard of Gallbladder cancer before I was diagnosed. They want me to start on Xeloda and then after 4 months on chemo they want me to start on both Xeloda nd radiation. I feel very ALONE with this diagnosis as only 2 in 100,000 people get it and very AFRAID bcz of the poor prognosis. Can ANYONE relate???
Hello Teresa. Yes, the 1.5 cm tumor was incidentally found after a routine cholycystectomy since she had gallstones for 20 years. The tumor was staged as pT2 borderline pT3. No perotineal invasion and All margings negative for invasive carcinoma. The contrast CT scan only showed a 1cm indeterminate hypodense Liver lesion in segment 5. An MRI with contrast was ordered to better asses the lesion. She will be having a billiary duct resection eventually. Hopefully soon
Hello @maortiz1987 and welcome to Mayo Connect. I appreciate you sharing about your wife's experience with gall bladder cancer. From your post, this looks like a recent diagnosis. Is that correct?
How long ago was your wife's surgery? Was "1.5" the size of the tumor. Was her gall bladder tumor staged?
Hello Teresa. Yes, the 1.5 cm tumor was incidentally found after a routine cholycystectomy since she had gallstones for 20 years. The tumor was staged as pT2 borderline pT3. No perotineal invasion and All margings negative for invasive carcinoma. The contrast CT scan only showed a 1cm indeterminate hypodense Liver lesion in segment 5. An MRI with contrast was ordered to better asses the lesion. She will be having a billiary duct resection eventually. Hopefully soon
Hello, my wife is going through a very similar case like yours. She had a 1.5 gallbladder cancer tumour and possibly a 1cm liver tumour (still waiting on an MRI result) in segment V. How are you doing?
Hello @maortiz1987 and welcome to Mayo Connect. I appreciate you sharing about your wife's experience with gall bladder cancer. From your post, this looks like a recent diagnosis. Is that correct?
How long ago was your wife's surgery? Was "1.5" the size of the tumor. Was her gall bladder tumor staged?
Question any information using CA 19-9 to determine reoccurrence before tumor is large enough to be identified by CT scan.
With pancreatic cancer if their was elevated CA 19-9 prior to surgery then around 60% of the time an increasing CA 19-9 trend was identified before the tumor could be detected with CT scan.
History:
Gallbladder cancer found when it was removed 1.6 cm.
PET scan 20 days later showed tumor in liver section IVb.
Liver resection segment 4B, tumor 3.5 cm, margins clear.
Followed with 26 external beam radiation and 5FU chemo.
CA 19-9 continues to show downward trend and is approaching normal levels.
5 months after liver resection CT scan could not detect any tumor.
Current plan is to test CA 19-9 every 40 days and CT scan every 6 months. Frequency to be increased if CA 19-9 test establishes an increasing trend
Hello, my wife is going through a very similar case like yours. She had a 1.5 gallbladder cancer tumour and possibly a 1cm liver tumour (still waiting on an MRI result) in segment V. How are you doing?
I travel 7/16 - my husband is coming with this time. We are estranged though living in the same house. He’s not much support.
The lack of a sense of urgency is really frustrating. Not just at Mayo but it seems everywhere. It’s caused resection to be no longer an option. And allowed stage 2 to progress to stage 4. And still I still and wait.
By the time treatment is started who knows how & where it’s spread.
Has anyone switched from Mayo to else where with better results or is this just how it goes?
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I have been diagnosed with Gallbladder cancer. Already had surgery to remove the T4- Stage 4a tumor that invaded half my liver, a portion of my intestines and bile ducts which were all removed. I’ve never even heard of Gallbladder cancer before I was diagnosed. They want me to start on Xeloda and then after 4 months on chemo they want me to start on both Xeloda nd radiation. I feel very ALONE with this diagnosis as only 2 in 100,000 people get it and very AFRAID bcz of the poor prognosis. Can ANYONE relate???
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3 ReactionsYes, thank you for asking. She is eating basically everything with no digestive issues
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3 ReactionsThis all sounds good, @maortiz1987. It sounds like she is getting good follow up, as well.
How is she feeling since her surgery? Is her appetite OK and does she have any problems with digestion?
CA 19.9 levels is in 14. CEA normal range as well
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1 ReactionShe had the gallbladder removal surgery on june 14th
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1 ReactionHello Teresa. Yes, the 1.5 cm tumor was incidentally found after a routine cholycystectomy since she had gallstones for 20 years. The tumor was staged as pT2 borderline pT3. No perotineal invasion and All margings negative for invasive carcinoma. The contrast CT scan only showed a 1cm indeterminate hypodense Liver lesion in segment 5. An MRI with contrast was ordered to better asses the lesion. She will be having a billiary duct resection eventually. Hopefully soon
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1 ReactionHello @maortiz1987 and welcome to Mayo Connect. I appreciate you sharing about your wife's experience with gall bladder cancer. From your post, this looks like a recent diagnosis. Is that correct?
How long ago was your wife's surgery? Was "1.5" the size of the tumor. Was her gall bladder tumor staged?
Hello, my wife is going through a very similar case like yours. She had a 1.5 gallbladder cancer tumour and possibly a 1cm liver tumour (still waiting on an MRI result) in segment V. How are you doing?
Thank you @colleenyoung
I travel 7/16 - my husband is coming with this time. We are estranged though living in the same house. He’s not much support.
The lack of a sense of urgency is really frustrating. Not just at Mayo but it seems everywhere. It’s caused resection to be no longer an option. And allowed stage 2 to progress to stage 4. And still I still and wait.
By the time treatment is started who knows how & where it’s spread.
Has anyone switched from Mayo to else where with better results or is this just how it goes?
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 Reactions