I Survived Cancer Of The Liver

My fantasy was that I had some sort of stomach problem, or acute indigestion and they would give me some liquid to drink and everything would be OK. Did I mention that this was my fantasy? This would not be the case.

I found that I had to have an ultra-sound which frightened me, I had abdominal problems before but never had an ultra-sound performed. I prepared for the worst and thought about my two boys and what might happen to them if the results were not in my favor.

I was ordered to take off my clothes and put on one of the backless hospital gowns (which I hate!!) and then I was wheeled down to the radiology department.

The technician that would perform the test had a wand and some (very cold!) gel. She covered the head of the wand with the gel and had me move to a bed near a monitor that resembled a PC monitor. She moved the (cold) gel covered wand over my abdomen and you could see my insides on the monitor.

This went on for around ten minutes and then she indicated she was done. I had time to think that this was painless and non-intrusive and not all that (except for the cold gel) unpleasant. At this point I was moved back to the ER.

Once back in the ER, I waited for the verdict, it was not forthcoming, instead I was informed that I would have to have a MRI scan. I didn't mind because by this time I had been medicated for the pain that I was experiencing. So I relaxed and waited for the next adventure which was the MRI scan.

Once again I was wheeled to the radiology department and into a different area (not the place where the ultra-sound was done) and moved to a bed like platform in front of a machine that appeared to be a tunnel. I am claustrophobic and I was a bit nervous as to the next step. Sure enough I was to be injected into the tunnel and held there for a few minutes and then removed.

This procedure would be repeated maybe five times. I was not amused, however I cooperated with the technicians. After the last injection into this machine I was transfered back to my stretcher and wheeled back to ER to wait for the results.

The final verdict was hours away, in the meantime, I could only lie there and wait for the doctors to decide what my problems were. When they finally got to me, the results were shocking to say the least.

The word was I had a growth on my liver, a tumor the size of a golf ball or larger. The consensus was the tumor was probably malignant (cancerous) but blood tests would have to be performed to verify this diagnosis. I was in shock and I hadn't any idea if the tumor was malignant. I only knew that with my luck, it would be the worst case.

They assured me that they would send this information to my regular Doctor and she would have to verify their diagnosis. It was Saturday morning by now, very early and I had to hurry home to the boys.

I still had not processed this information and it just did not seem to be a reality. It would take some time, but I would come to the truth soon enough.

In order to survive a serious disease you should act on it as soon as possible. Unfortunately, I did no such thing. I spent a great deal of time in denial.

My regular Doctor was a very good internist and she was on top of the situation immediately. She was instrumental in saving my life. i simply refused to credit that I had cancer. Cancer of the liver was and is somewhat of a death sentence. I am living proof that nothing like this is set in stone. However, don't let anyone fool you, a lot of us will react in much the same way I reacted. I was disbelieving, bitter, angry, sad, afraid, in other words the whole range of human emotions. I would waste an entire year dealing with my feelings instead of fighting the disease.

Finally I came to a fork in the road, so to speak and I accepted the truth and set out to do something about my situation.

My Doctor asked me if my affairs were in order. I knew how serious my situation actually was at that moment. Rather than answer her question, I asked what did she want me to do. She said, "get serious about this problem and let us help you. I started on the long journey to defeat cancer that day. Doctors' waiting rooms became second homes.

She wanted me to see a specialist, this Doctor's specialty was gastronomy (science of good eating and drinking) which seemed odd at the outset. It actually made sense, as this man had a lot of experience with patients that thought they had stomach disorders only to find cancer in one or more of their abdominal organs. We knew my problem was liver, so he had me go in for the standard blood tests to detect cancer of the liver.

There are nineteen tests, and after getting the results the Doctor verified the diagnosis, I had cancer of the liver. He said that maybe I would live one to two more years (this was in 2003), if no action was taken. I was devastated, but he held out a glimmer of hope. There was a Doctor from Texas in town and she was one of the top liver cancer specialists in the country. I made an appointment and prepared to see her. I didn't think there was much hope, but I had to try.

I walked into her office and she was looking over my file. She was a fairly young woman and I was surprised because her reputation led me to believe I would be seeing someone much older. The old saying about judging a book by it's cover fit this situation. With a very confident speaking voice she said, "you don't have to die from this, I'm going to give you twenty-five years after some major surgery".

She told me to bring my family in so she could reassure them that I wouldn't be dying from this problem in the near future. I explained I only had my boys, she said "bring them in, so I can tell them"! With that, she proceeded to make preparations for my surgery. She told me she was going to make a big smiley face on my abdomen. She explained that the surgery would be like being sawed in half! For the first time in a year I felt hope and could see a future with my sons.

I was waiting to have the most critical surgery I had experienced before that time. I had experienced orthopedic surgery many times due an injury I received in southeast Asia. This would top them all with regard to danger to my life. However, I had complete confidence in my surgeon. She seemed to exude confidence.

I think that this is what got me through, although I had been informed that I only had a twenty percent chance of survival. This information came from someone other than the surgeon, she was sure she could pull me through. I never loss faith in the Doctor that would accomplish this amazing feat.

It was a nine hour surgery, and the only trouble my surgeon had was she said my kidneys shut down momentarily. She cut away the portion of my liver with the tumor and removed my gall bladder. They photographed the tumor and my regular Doctor showed me the ugly thing. I awakened with my abdomen stapled shut, in what indeed was a smiley face pattern.

I won't bore you with the pain that this surgery caused, I'll just say that they hooked me to a machine which dispensed pain medication and I made ample use of it. I was happy, the surgery was a success and I was still alive! I would spend seven days in the hospital and l was discharged at the end of that time.

I suppose the reason I am sharing this information is that if you keep your head, you may survive anything. I almost gave up, but I decided to fight and I'm still here nine years later after being told I would die within two years.