My father has CANCER! HELP!

[Analog]

Sorry to hear about this. Everything I've read says Europe is way ahead of the US in cancer treatment.

 

[Darkstar757]

UP for John's Hopkins I am almuni and they and NIH have some of the best centers and doctors in the world.

BTW


Spite what everyone else has said I would be just as freaked. I will pray for you and you father and I know that the lord will see you through this tough time.


Hugs,

Darkstar

 

[440sixpack]

I'm far from any kind of expert, but I think Dana-Farber in Boston is among the top as well.

 

[Svnla]

I hear Anderson Cancer center in Houston TX is very good. GL to you, OP.

 

[Alistar7]

http://www.mayoclinic.org/live...orlivertransplant.html

The results of adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation throughout the world are excellent. At least 275 adult-to-adult living donor liver transplants had been performed in the United States by early 2000, and several hundred more in other parts of the world.

The living liver donors are hospitalized about a week after the operation and have only occasionally required blood transfusion. Nevertheless, the donor operative procedure is a major operation and not without risk. Mayo Clinic's transplant team estimates a risk to the liver donor's life of 0.5 to 1 percent.

Hopefully a family member is suitable as a living liver donor. Find the best doctors for a colon replacement.

 

[Slick5150]

Originally posted by: Googer

Originally posted by: zinfamous

Originally posted by: Googer
We're looking for Names of Doctors with great success and knowledge in this area, the top .1%. Travel to Europe, Japan, or India is not too out of the question.

You watch too many movies.

but GL

Havent seen a movie in 5 years and at most 7-10 in the last 10 years.

His point is that there is no miracle cure out there, and Doctors in India, Japan, or wherever don't have knowledge that a doctor nearby likely has. Yes, there are different treatments that some centers use or new trials going on, but instead of randomly asking people here, you need to talk to your local doctors, as well as a local support groups for people currently going through the same thing who can help advise you of those options.

Again, I wish your family luck but I strongly encourage you to focus your efforts a bit better and ensure that he gets good care and is aware of all his options.

 

[bladder23]

Are you incredibly rich, OP?

Top doctors= big bucks

 

[NanoStuff]

Originally posted by: Slick5150
Doctors in India, Japan, or wherever don't have knowledge that a doctor nearby likely has.

What random hole did you pull that from? There are very competent doctors all over the world.

What he needs to be looking for is a specific treatment rather than a specific doctor, or perhaps a specific medical facility that performs new and generally unavailable procedures.

 

[Slick5150]

Originally posted by: NanoStuff

Originally posted by: Slick5150
Doctors in India, Japan, or wherever don't have knowledge that a doctor nearby likely has.

What random hole did you pull that from? There are very competent doctors all over the world.

What he needs to be looking for is a specific treatment rather than a specific doctor, or perhaps a specific medical facility that performs new and generally unavailable procedures.

Sorry. Didn't phrase that well. My point wasn't that they don't have the knowledge that doctors here have, it was that they don't have any MORE knowledge than doctors anywhere else have. There is no secret cancer cure in India, Japan, anywhere else that they just aren't sharing with us.

 

[SunnyD]

I wish I had some better advice... my mother and my sister's dog (yes, an integral part of her life) both died from cancer... AFTER completing treatment. I wish you can your father the best of wishes.

 

[Blieb]

I don't have anything to contribute except good vibes and best wishes

 

[sygyzy]

Sorry this is happening to your father. Are we going sticky every request now?

 

[themisfit610]

I lost my dad to cancer about 5 years ago. He had a rare form of bone marrow cancer that wasn't very treatable.

I want to send you my best wishes, and most sincere hopes that your father's treatment goes well, and that his quality of life stays high.

It's going to be a tough period for everyone involved. Stay positive, and be level headed.

My one last bit of advice is this: If things take a turn for the worst, and you feel the end might be coming, say the things you've always meant to say. I was away at college, and though I did manage to visit home once near the end, I didn't work up the courage to really say what I needed to.

That regret has stayed with me, and will continue to do so, particularly as my life comes into focus and context, and I see the impact he had on me, and the sacrifices he made as a parent.

It's shocking to me just how many people get cancer each year. Let it be a lesson to us all to take care of our bodies as best we can.

~MiSfit

 

[Fenixgoon]

johns hopkins in baltimore is awesome :thumbsup:

 

[Lurknomore]

I can only say the best of luck and wishes- no doubt you will leave no stone unturned to help your dad out.:thumbsup:

 

[ponyo]

I'm sorry to hear it's spread to the liver. I lost my dad and my favorite uncle to liver cancer. Both discovered it too late and both died about 3 months after the initial news. Cancer to the liver is complicated and odds are not good once it hits the liver. Hopefully your father has treatment options. Neither my father or my uncle could get much of a treatment since the cancer was in the middle of their liver. We focused on the quality of remaining life with my father but it was heartbreaking to see such a strong man suffer and weaken in such a short period of time. Treasure your time with your father. I would give up everything I have if I could get my father back. He was my hero and still is.

 

[Oil]

I would recommend MD Anderson in Houston but only because of personal experience

 

[mrrman]

MAYO clinic in NY

 

[raanemaan]

My brother in law was diagnosed with liver cancer and cancer of the esophagus. He had chemo and he drank flourescent tea that was recommended by his brother. The last test came back that he was free of cancer. Don't know if it really helped or not. Hope things work out with your dad.

 

[ProfJohn]

If you haven't already I suggest you read the book Tuesdays with Morrie.

Will really make you think about what is important in your life and may help you deal with the difficulties you face ahead.

I also suggest you read about the Kubler-Ross model also known as the Five stages of grief as I am sure you will be seeing all of them.

Denial: The initial stage: "It can't be happening."
Anger: "Why me? It's not fair."
Bargaining: "Just let me live to see my children graduate."
Depression: "I'm so sad, why bother with anything?"
Acceptance: "It's going to be OK."

Strange as it sounds Bill Murray goes through all five stages in the movie Groundhog Day so it might be a good idea to watch that movie and get a sense of what is coming your way.


Good luck.

 

[NanoStuff]

Originally posted by: Slick5150
There is no secret cancer cure in India, Japan, anywhere else that they just aren't sharing with us.

There are different, typically much looser regulations that permit treatments unavailable in the US. Treatment is also MUCH cheaper in some of these regions and despite that probably better. Doctors in poorer regions have a whole lot to lose botching a surgery, they take their jobs very seriously.

Fortunately foreign competition is causing somewhat of a wakeup call for medical facilities in wealthy nations, they're realizing that they cannot compete with the wages they have to pay surgeons. Necessity is the mother of invention as they say. The necessity for wealthy countries is cheaper surgery, the invention is robotic surgery. Some of it remote, so a surgeon in India could operate on someone in the US, others are becoming fully automated, where there is no human intervention throughout the whole operation. Soon there will be pocket sized machines that perform appendectomies. Eventually bypass surgery won't cost much more than a haircut, and it's developing nations to thank for that.

 

[crisscross]

Long post but here it goes.

My father who was complaining of searing back pain and was completely bed ridden for about 2 months was initially diagnosed with Metastatis on the bone with an unknown primary and given a prognosis of 6 months. He had to undergo a back stabilization surgery and we did a more detailed biopsy during the surgery which came back as Stage II Multiple Myeloma with a better prognosis of 4-5 years.

The staging for Multiple Myeloma is done using a test called Beta 2 Microglobulin which showed a count of 4.8 which puts it as stage II. The oncologist was insistent that my father undergo chemotherapy right away and told us that there can be no delay in this, but my brother and I decided to wait as he hadn't recovered from the surgery and chemotherapy takes a heavy toll on the body.

We scoured the net and found clinical trials of Curcumin an extract of Turmeric with very good results in Multiple Myeloma. We sourced it locally and started giving the prescribed doses to my dad.

It's now 4 months since we started this treatment and my dad is now as active as he used to be. We took his beta 2 microglobulin count again and the result came down as 2.2. (1.9 is normal). The oncologist saw the results and said that he doesn't require chemotherapy anymore atleast for the near term. I don't know if it's enough to decide if Curcumin worked or not but it sure is promising.

 

[Descartes]

My grandfather beat colon cancer many years ago. He went to a doctor in Oklahoma City, but I forget the name. He beat it without chemo, and it hasn't come back. No complications other than the fact that they removed part of his colon.

A friend of mine beat cancer twice. He went to the MD Anderson center in Houston.

That's all I know about cancer. Really sorry to hear about it.

 

[fire400]

Minnesota has one of the highest ranked hospitals in the world.

 

[imported_Lothar]

Originally posted by: Naustica
I'm sorry to hear it's spread to the liver. I lost my dad and my favorite uncle to liver cancer. Both discovered it too late and both died about 3 months after the initial news. Cancer to the liver is complicated and odds are not good once it hits the liver. Hopefully your father has treatment options. Neither my father or my uncle could get much of a treatment since the cancer was in the middle of their liver. We focused on the quality of remaining life with my father but it was heartbreaking to see such a strong man suffer and weaken in such a short period of time. Treasure your time with your father. I would give up everything I have if I could get my father back. He was my hero and still is.

Interesting.

My father died of liver cancer in Nov. '97 (about a year before he's to turn 50)
It was too late for my father to get a transplant from my mom who wanted to donate a section of her liver.
Jaundice, dark colored urine that looked like blood, fatigue, muscle pain...He was waking up everyday experiencing those symptoms.
When he felt his time was coming, both he and my mom travelled to Nigeria. He died there a week later.
My brothers and I couldn't go to because my parents wanted us to focus on school (I have to believe they were financially constrained as well. It costs ~$1.5-2k/person to travel to Nigeria if not more, especially on such short notice).
I was only in 8th grade at the time.

The hole in my mother's bedroom that I made from punching the wall upon hearing news of his death is still there.

One of the biggest mistakes we did was not to get a life insurance policy.
Mom wanted to get in early '96, but dad said not yet.