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December 2010 Moms
IncogNeato
member
Another DH cancer update.
IncogNeato
member
So..... we have now met with one oncologist who said we could opt for surveillance (just watch and see if the cancer reappears) but he said he still leaned towards a few rounds of chemo to be safe.
Then DH emailed an expert in the field who said he'd recommend surveillance but if DH opted for chemo, he should do one round.
THEN we get word from the tumor board (made up of oncologists, radiologist, surgeons at our hospital which is a very well respected hospital) and their consensus was that surveillance in his case is too risky and they advise 3 rounds of chemo.
So.... now we have to figure out what to heck to do. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment. Surveillance is the "easiest" but has risks of it coming back and spreading to other organs. Chemo has risks, as well, and sounds like it would be pretty brutal on DH for a few months.
I hate making decisions.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Another DH cancer update.
It sounds like 2 out of 3 recommend chemo. I feel so bad for you guys having to do all this. I admire you both because through the computer screen you all seem so strong.
How is the LO baking? Everything going good on that end?
I am no expert, but I would do the chemo to play it safe. It will probably suck, but perhaps suck less in the long run than God forbid you do nothing now & it gets worse later.
GL to YH & hugs to you all!
Thanks ladies. The hard thing is, that getting chemo apparently raises your risk of getting lymphoma or leukemia later on. Since DH has now had two kinds of cancer (melanoma and TC) it makes us nervous that the chemo might give him a harder to treat cancer later on.I never realized that chemo can cause cancer but sadly, it's true.
Whether we do surveillance and only do chemo if his markers go up, or whether he goes ahead with chemo now, his odds of surviving are about the same, which is reassuring. But still. It kinds of feels like surveillance means tons of CT scans (which raise your risk of cancer) and the risk of it coming back and being further progressed or chemo which..... surprise, surprise, raises his risk of more cancer.
Cancer if you do, and cancer if you don't. Blech.
So sorry to hear there doesn't seem to be one clear path to a cure. You can only make the decision that works best for you two as clearly there are many differing opinions in the medical field and you are the ones who need to ultimately no matter what the outcome is be able to say I chose this, risk and all.
So sorry though that you two are facing such a decision. Hugs.
I didn't know that either. So crazy that you guys have to go through all of this. I think of your family often and really hope for the very best outcome in all of this. Big hugs, friend.
The bolded is really good to hear. But I'm sorry there's no clear path. It's such a tough decision.
BFP #2 5/27/12. EDD 2/1/13. m/c and D&C 6/21/12.
So sorry you're having to make this decision. It sounds like you guys are doing a great job getting alternate opinions and educating yourself on the options, so I am sure you will make the right choice for your family...nothing's guaranteed in life, so you just have to go with what makes sense to you right now.
Best of luck with your decision, and continued thoughts and prayers to get you through it!
Hello again, ladies. DH talked on the phone with his oncologist today and is feeling somewhat better. He said that he was not at the tumor board meeting, which meant that there were radiologist, surgeons, etc there but there was no medical oncologist to weigh in on just how much chemo is warranted. The oncologist also has a lot of respect for the expert that DH has talked to.
So, he will forward DH's slides on to a Cancer Center of Excellence to double check them, and he says he's comfortable dropping down to one or two rounds of chemo.