New user from uk

Adam...welcome to our site.  Congratulations on a successful surgery.  How are you feeling now?  How are you tolerating the treatment?  Do you know why the physician had recommended adjuvant therapy? Did you have clear margins? 
I hope that I don't come across as too nosy because; most of all I am thrilled that you have found us and am looking forward to many discussions.
Hugs,
Marion

Hi all,

What a nice welcome! Thank you

Ok, so a little more about me and my recent 'adventure'.

Last year I suffered what I thought was appendicitis and went to hospital in January, expecting to have minor surgery as an emergency, after having spent half the night there they sent me away saying I have "in definable pain" and left me to the care of my gp, who said I most likely had chronic appendicitis. I accepted this and carried on, in pain, until I married my new wife this year in January and we subsequently set ourselves up in a new how in a small Kent village called Wye (it's VERY beautiful!). So one of the things you finally do when moving home is register with a new doctor, who upon hearing the above promptly sent me for an ultrasound scan which showed a 4-5cm space occupying lesion within my liver. As my employer pays for Bupa, I immediately went private and after less than 4 weeks of scans (every variety) I was sent to kings college hospital in London to see mr Parthia Srinivasan, apparently one of the top London liver surgeons. He very quickly and frankly told me I have cancer and that if the tumour is not removed my chances of surviving to the end of the year were about 20%. This was a serious shock as the previous consultant had been telling me the 'tumour' is a type of blood blister! So, a week later I was back in kings college hospital, met the surgical team and they explained the procedure they were going to do, which changed at the last moment as they had just received the pet scan, but they didn't tell me what had changed. I went into surgery, came back out some eight hours later minus the tumour, the central part of my liver and my gall bladder but with a massive cut from my sternum to just above belly button, cross sectioned by another cut going from my right hip to in line with my left nipple. I woke up in recovery and was in zero pain, I started chatting to a guy next to me who was older than me but had had far more aggressive surgery.
Later on the ward my epidural stopped numbing my wound and instead made my right leg numb, I could not get this through to the staff, they kept saying the epidural was working, yet I was in the most pain I have ever experienced in my life, this got sorted some 20 hours later by a junior doctor who believed me and got the anaesthetist to sort things but the epidural had to come out.
I left hospital after 5 days and was very glad to be home, not realising the burden of care I had put on my wife as I could not dress myself properly or even get out of bed. We both went through some hard months together in our first year of marriage an this continues.
I am nearing the end of my adjuvant chemotherapy, which my oncologist swears there is good data to support it especially with the "significant reccurrence risk". The histology report showed that although the surgeon thought my gall bladder was also affected, it was clear, as we're the surgical margins and my lymph nodes, so all good on that front really.
My biggest problem now is that I am still in a lot of post operative pain and I really didn't expect to be by this time, I have noticed that the muscles on the right side of my abdomen don't seem to work at all and I have numbness in this area also, plus, most worryingly, a sharp stabbing pain in the exact same position I went to the doctor for in the first place, my oncologist has refused to scan me until the chemo is finished in 6 weeks time so I guess I just have to wait.
The chemotherapy has been pretty hard but varies every time, it's definitely not something I would recommend to anyone unless they had to do it, I personally dread it.
Anyway, I'm 43, and plan to stick around for a bit, I want to run in the 2014 Brighton marathon and have a child with my new wife (if the chemo hasn't destroyed that chance!!). I've been scouring the net looking for up to date data with a view to understanding my prognosis, my surgeon told me in march that I had a 33% chance of living 5 years but from what I can tell this seems to be based on outdated data, at least I hope so as those odds aren't great! This site looks like a great resource and a wealth of experience which I hope to be able to contribute to.

I've rambled enough I think

Adam

Thanks Lainy, I certainly will keep you all updated, it's good to be able to talk to people who really understand the situation at last!

Thanks again.

Adam

Hi Adam,
I am so happy that you could have surgery. I pray for a good next scan for you so that you can enjoy life with your new wife. I have had two resections and I still get that numb feeling on the incision line. Your wife must be an angel, it is a labor of love taking care of a cc patient after a resection. Nice to meet you, sorry it has to be here.
Lisa

Thanks everyone, this really is a great forum, it's comforting to know that others have had similar experiences. I wish you all and your loved ones well.
The whole experience completely blind sided me and took me til just 2 weeks ago before I decided I am going to live, I had kind of resigned myself to death, ok, I still accept death, we all have to at some point for whatever reason but I now have plans that I'm praying God will let me see through.
Susie that sounds like a grueling chemo regime, I hate chemo and the way it affects me, did you suffer any cognitive impairment? I've had days after chemo when I couldn't even hold a conversation, I hate that.
Lisa, yes my wife is an absolute angel, she has suffered as much if not more than me, I find this probably the hardest thing to deal with (closely followed tbh by the financial strains!!)

Thanks again all

Adam

Thanks Pam, my prayers go out to you and your daughter Lauren. Despite my situation I feel lucky that I've got this far.

Adam x

Hello Adam
My name is Sandie and I am here in the UK.  Your story sounds extremely similar to mine and if you ever wish to speak to me please le me know.   I too thought there wa no hope and had accepted my end, but  I have now completed chemo and Radio and have since had 3 clear scans.  I still have side effects from the chemo and sometimes have bad days, but every day I laugh and make sure I have something to look forward to, being positive is so helpful.  Your wife sounds like an angel and you two will have wonderful times together.  Take care xx

Hi Gavin,

Yes I think it's time to speak to a different gp or my onc team, I'm mostly surprised that 6 months after surgery I still have pain that I associate with the surgery, I feel like I'm 'zipped up' too tight plus my abdo muscles on my right side just don't work and hurt a lot. I've dealt with pain before (I've had 2 fingers amputated in an industrial accident) but this just doesn't seem to be getting better. As I said before, I was very active before this and I hate the way I am now, just hope it won't stay this way as I'm desperate to get active again.
Lol, I'm bleating on now!! Sorry

Adam