A friend has Primary Adult Liver Cancer

philip · Regular Joined: 27 Dec 2006 Posts: 11

I am a cancer suvivor. I sent a friend here for information when she called in January. I told her one problem with cancer is that it is difficult to get answers about your prognosis. I hope she found the site helpful.

Her story may be helpful to others who visit, so I am writing this.

Cancer is classified according to where it starts, not where it ends up. A lot of cancers end up in the Liver, but if it started somewhere else, it is not Liver Cancer. The treatment for Breast Cancer in the Liver is a different treatment from Primary Adult Liver Cancer. So if you have reached this post wanting to know about a Cancer that has moved to the Liver, you should visit the Forum dealing with where the Cancer started for help.

My friend is 58 and a very fit and beautiful dance instructor. Approximately 14 weeks ago she had a pain in her chest that did not go away. She felt she was having a mild heart attack and went to the emergency room. They confirmed that it was not a heart attack, but noticed something unusual on a test they took. She returned to have more extensive tests done which showed a mass on her liver.

A biopsy confirmed she had Adult Primary Liver Cancer. There was no cirrhosis of the liver found. (she did not really drink alcohol, but one test showed she had been exposed to hepatitis at one time in her life).

More tests showed the tumors were in only part of her Liver and did not involve blood vessels, so she was a candidate for surgery. About 11 weeks ago she had the surgery where about three fourths of her liver was removed. The surgeon noticed some areas he was concerned about and left markers, so those areas could be watched.

Her recovery from surgery was good and as she recovered there was discussion on her next treatment. She decided to go to a major Cancer Center in another city where she had lots of good friends for support.

Three weeks ago she left for the Cancer Center. By the time she left, she had become somewhat weak, had lost her appitite and was in some pain. She was able to travel by air with the help of a wheel chair, two seats and a helper.

Once in the new City her condition deteriorated and her initial appointment with the Cancer Center had to be postponned. She ended up in the Emergency Room of the local hospital, where a chest x-ray showed that the Cancer had spread throughout her lungs.

Today her doctors with her friends and family by her side are discussing hospice care for her.

Cancer is a very terrible disease. It robs us of our friends and family many years before our loved ones are ready to go.

My friend was lucky as she was a candidate for surgery. My understanding is that without the surgery her Cancer was always fatal.

In her case, it apparently was still not enough.

I told her because of my experience, I smelled the roses a little more, and watched pretty sunsets.

Since January she has had some time to do that and for this gift we are grateful.

Update: She passed on with her family by her side on April 5, 2008 a little more than 3 months after she had her first symptoms.

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