Recurrence in the liver

Hi 

Sorry to hear about a reoccurrence! It’s hard to hear and face more treatment again in such a short time span! If you click on my user name you will see my mum had a similar situation as she had an immediate recurrence in her liver !

Was your liver clear the first time ? My mum has actually had some extensive surgery on her liver . Four wedge resections initially then an immediate recurrence the second time she went to a centre of excellence for the liver and they removed 73% of her liver which since regenerated . Odd , odd shape but has functioned well and stayed clear for over ten years !

She did have to go through another round of chemo before it and that was disappointing at the time but I attribute it to part of her long term survival !

In terms of delays , I hear you ! We had the same ! The MDT meetings seem more protracted for stage 4 patients as they frequently seem to go through two , locally then potentially a second more specialist one ! I think it was around two months prior to the second surgery but less when she went to chemo ! 
It can be a good idea to find out the location and extent of the spread in the liver . My mum had five the first time , five the second time and goodness knows how many had popped up when she arrived at surgery but there was segments 1 to 3 still clear that gave the surgeons room to navigate round ! It’s such a large organ thankfully!

In terms of long term survival , that can change depending on surgery , chemo responsiveness etc. Depending on the size of the spread and the location there are also treatments like Radio frequency ablation ! The liver has quite a lot of treatment options in bowel cancer ! 

Some people are fortunate enough to only need one intervention to eliminate all the microdisease thrown out as part of the original spread ! My mum was not that person but she mentally processed it by thinking the each intervention meant less disease for her chemotherapy to handle . It was a slow but sure targeting and reducing the tumour load ! She never again had as big a spread as her original diagnosis and robust scanning has been a life saver but also a heartache at times !

These are big bumps to hit especially when you have to face more treatment and you are only just recovering ! It was the hardest thing seeing my mum’s face when they told her that ! Yet she has been living a good life with the help and intervention of her team !

You do have time to investigate the best option for you to knock this back down ! Many people are using maintenance chemo over years , others get surgical or radio therapy interventions! 

Some options take the stats back up quite significantly and the only stat you need is your own ! That always gave me hope !

I hope they get a good plan for you quickly as you have already endured a lot ! You are only gathering your strength and finding your feet but this second part really cleared the microdisease for my mum !

Thinking of you !

Court 

Dear Court

thank you so much for taking the time to reply to me, it is so much appreciated as I feel very alone at the moment. I am alone here not married no kids and my father, stepmother and siblings (and their families) live in Spain where I have been desperately trying to get to unsuccessfully since March 2020 so have had to deal with treatments on my own. I am a very strong and resilient woman but this has knocked me quite a bit. I feel reassured by your comments re your mum(whom I wish well). I believe that chemo is in the cards and possible resection as long as there is no major vessel involvement of the tumour. 

my liver was clear initially it was colon cancer with peritoneal metastasis which was never going to be curable but I never expected it to come back so quickly.. if surgery is an option they should be able to react it and we start again 3 monthly review scans , please god!

thanks again for sharing and fir your time.

BW

Nelson2810

Hi 

You are still a very strong and resilient woman . You have already endured a lot but you are only human !

We are certainly here to listen and support as best we can ! Sometimes just hearing someone else had a similar set of circumstances and found a way through can give a bit of a lift !

We were shocked at the speed of recurrence but the oncologist suggested it could have potentially been there all along at a micro level !

It does sound as though they have a rough plan in their heads for you all things being equal and they know what they can hope to achieve !

I am So sorry you are away from your family . That’s such a shame but hope you get to see them soon !

Stay in touch , we are always around and happy to chat !

Court