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I am now almost 4 1/2 years post liver transplant. I was diagnosed with HCC, or more commonly know as liver cancer this April just after returning from Mexico. This is the same type of cancer I had pre-transplant. It was quite a shock as the doctor had just said if I made it 5 years post transplant that my chances of having HCC again were almost nil. So, after the initial diagnosis of one tumor about 1.2 cm and a shadow site the doctors decided to wait 2 months to do another scan. In the meantime Donna and I have totally changed our diet and have gone "Paleo". We also organized a meditation group with some good friends that has been very powerful. The second scan just a couple of weeks ago showed the shadow had turned into a 1.1cm tumor and the originally diagnosed tumor had grown to 1.6cm. This all sounds quite bad I know and I am not happy about it but the good news is that I feel fine! I am working, playing golf, riding my bike, and swimming with the masters team again. Of course Donna has been totally supportive and is my rock in this and all my adventures!
Dr. Holden took the scans to the "tumor board" twice and the recommendation is to have some type of interventional radiology treatment. We saw Dr. Johnson, an interventional radiologist with IU today who we both loved and trust. He is a good friend of Dr. Paul Kwo, the hepatologist that treated me all though the saga of pre, during , an post transplant. The treatment process will be an appointment yet to be scheduled for a arteriogram of my liver. This will tell the Doc what type of treatment to use. It is between the Y-90 radiation and a Chemo seed ablation. He is leaning toward the Y-90 which is the same treatment that stopped the cancer last time and got me listed for transplant. Once the arteriogram is done they will order the medicine and 10 days to 3 weeks later I will be infused with whatever they decide. The radiation or chemo just sits in my liver and cooks the cancer and it should just take those 2 appointments to get the job done. I will be scanned 90 days post treatment to see if the cancer has been eliminated.
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