Hello and thank you for your post.

I am sorry to hear about your friend's situation and I can appreciate this is a worrying time for you both.

However, that without being involved in your friend's care it is not possible for me or anyone else here to know what his situation is and how serious it is.

It is likely that his specialist team will discuss with him the outcome of the scan and may have a plan of treatment to discuss with him. But what that will be is not possible to know at this present time. I think once more is known will you have a better idea of what his outcome is. 

Please get back to us if you need any more information or support.  You may find it helpful to talk things through with one of the nurses on our helpline.  The number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.

Take care,

Caroline 

Hello Lou4277,

                       as a former recipient of liver cancer l feel able to tread where angels dare, ,or rather tiptoe.As Nurse Caroline pointed out,  exact details need to be discovered before a definitive answer would be available. Bearing that statement very much in mind ,in general pancreatic net spread to the Liver would not be considered very good news if indeed this is where it originated from.  My own was from the bowel and therefore operable.

l hope your friend is fortunate with their outcome,

                                                                                regards,

                                                                                                 David

Hello Simmy1000,

                             sorry to hear about your Dad,a truly worrying time for all your family. Your post raises as many questions as it provides answers, but that might be the way you have framed it. Not sure l understand why they are not going to operate,but will to prevent blockages,since the most likely cause of blockage would be a tumour this has me wondering do you mean initially rather than never.,or are you meaning the op would be a stoma in front of the tumour in the bowel?, leaving the tumour insitu.

My initial diagnosis was high grade 3 colon cancer with an inflamed lymph node nearby.

 month 2---6 weeks of chemo (cimetadine} and radiotherapy to shrink tumour pre surgery and hit any possible outward spread

month 4---pre bowel resection scan show aggressive and rapid spread to liver,fortunately on outer lobe but heading fast inward to a position where surgery would not be possible--phew!

month 5-- 60% liver resection and gall bladder removal, only just possible with sufficient margins to vital neighbouring components

Month 9 ---bowel resection and stoma inserted.Bad stoma site due to distended abdomen followed liver op resulted in a continuously raw and bloody wound that never healed

month 11---18 weeks of chemo (oxipilatin )

Month 23---stoma reversal---joy that site could finally heal and did so four months later. Grief as bowel goes on a warp drive voyage of discovery to the outer regions of mayhem and carnage

month 71--Bowel starting to settle to somewhere recognisable as being civilised after a certainly never dull sabbatical

 month 116-- The new normality see's a regular morning and evening pattern with a regular flare every two/three weeks that lasts for 24 hours,no reason just like pressure builds and has to be released.

To date--- just returned from hospital following blocked bowel.Excruciating pain requires morphine to get through the 24 hours it takes for the bowel to resume function.,5 episodes in 8 years,3 of which required hospital. It  has always restarted without surgery,but this can be a recurring issue with bowel surgery. My control is one loperimide in the morning to condition the bowel with one sachet of  colestrymine in the evening to bind bup excess bile

Perspective--this has not stopped me from getting on,apart from the surgery and short recovery times post op.Early days saw the purchase of motorhome allowing mobility with 24 hour toilet facilities.Motorhome was sold 3 years back as l could cope with car and radar key.From month 12 l commenced building a new house which we moved into five years ago.l also ran a guesthouse/hostel /post office and small farm,sheep and cattle,guesthouse sold 5 years ago,farm continues

Conclusion---like rowing a boat in treacle,but great when you finally break into clear water,and life is sweet 

Hope your Dads chemo works,who knows where that could lead in the future,

                                                                                                                                 David

David, my Dad would love the line 'like a rowing boat in treacle' that made me chuckle. You've certainly been through the mill but all worthwhile and it sounds like you've managed to really LIVE whilst dealing with it all. 
 

By the sounds of it, wouldn't be worth it in terms of removing the tumour but I thought you could operate on the liver also?! It's also in lymph nodes, this may be a huge factor into if they bother to operate on organs!? My Dad thinks the surgeon seeemed relieved when he said okay we won't operate and go straight to chemo. The surgery will also delay the chemo and maybe at this stage chemo is more important. 
 

We are hopefully having the consultation with private oncologist who is a bowel specialist, even if we decide not to go private (I don't think my Dad will, not due to money but because he would rather stick with the NHS out of principle) Atleast we will be getting a second opinion. 
 

My Dad is 75 but very fit, we only had this diagnosed last week and he's been poorly for around 2 months. Before that he was cycling 28 miles a week and felt great! 
Thanks for taking the time to reply to me, stories of strength and positivity and just sheer determination even thought it's *** are just amazing. Sending you all the best wishes!! 

Hello Simmy1000,

                             thank you for your detailed reply which makes your Dads position far easier for me to understand.

The cats out the bag when its spread to the lymphatic system and no operation can get to this, indeed surgical intervention could make matters worse and provoke spread,, you also have to factor in the position of growths on the liver, on the outer lobes surgery is possible ,but not when nearing the centre.,l have to say my liver op was the most brutal of a long and distinguished career on the operating table, 14 to date..l was 62 at the time and have to say l would not  go near it again at the age of 75, so going for pallative chemo treatment without having dragged your body down by surgery and having to wait for it to recover before being strong enough to withstand chemo seems by far the best route.

Its both worryig and frustating for the wait to get things started,and understandable to see going private as a route to possible faster treatmernt initially, but consideration needs to be given to changing needs along the treatment journey and what happens should the private sectors limitations be reached,and possible complications in switching back to the far broader range of resourses of the NHS.

l always felt secure in my treatment and if the need for urgent action arose  shown by the constant testing and monitoring,,it was there.with absolutely no questions. It was certainly the case that l quickly realised that any and all  uncertainties lay within my own mind and not within the professionalism of the experienced care team involved in my treatment, and was able to set my stress aside and focus on what positives l could bring to the table.

l hope your Dads treatment journey goes well and that he will benefit greatly from the ongoing advances in understanding and treatment regimes for chemotherapy

                                                                                                              David