Liver cancer and edema

strangestgirl · New User Joined: 06 Apr 2005 Posts: 1

My dad was diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma in 75 to 80% of his liver in August 2004. The doctor then said he had maybe a year to live, maybe less. He's gone vegetarian, consuming a lot of fresh vegetable and fruit juices, but the lethargy is becoming more pronounced. He's got a slightly yellow cast to his sking but his eyes are clear. Last week he developed some peripheral edema which is persistent (he didn't tell my mom about it til yesterday). I haven't been able to find any information on stages of cancer/liver failure so that we've got a general idea of how he's doing. My sister lives in California and would like to make a trip home before he dies- we've been using the amount of jaundice as a sort of barometer (lacking anything else). Does anyone have any better information for me?

The good news is that Dad feels good and while the edema is irritating it's not painful. He's still working and in good spirits.

Thanks in advance,
Sarah

leo · Owner Joined: 23 Sep 2004 Posts: 1574

Hello

Sorry to hear about his situation. Edema can be a sign of several things: malnourishment, low albumin in the blood (comes with liver failure and cirrhosis), but may also be due to congestive heart failure, blood clots affecting the legs or large veins inside the abdomen (inferior vena cava).

My advice to you would be to take one day at a time. Take your father's functional status, i.e, what he can and can not do as a marker of how sick he is. Example: how independent is he ? Can he take care of himself, shower, eat etc ? Or does he need someone to assist him ? Is he mobile or is he confined to bed or wheelchair ? These are ways to estimate how well or not someone is doing.

best regards,
Leo
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Leonardo F - Webmaster Cancer Forums
Disclaimer: this information is for informational purposes only. It is not medical advice.

Acesales · Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2005 2:30 am Post subject: Re: Liver cancer and edema

I am sorry to hear about your father. I lost a good friend April 15th to liver cancer. I hope I can help you by giving a short history of the last months of his life.
For starters, he had no health insurance and was 61 years old. He had been losing weight since the fall of 2004. He had no explanation for the sudden weight loss and thought nothing of it. He made a trip to Europe for his birthday in January as he always did. When he returned he developed edema from the knees down. It was so bad that the skin actually broke open in some areas and bled lightly. Being a tool and die maker he was on his feet all day. At the end of February he became ill with what he thought was a cold. He slept a lot and was not eating much. Finally he went into urgent care when he developed breathing problems. It was March 15th. He told the doctor he had pain under his ribcage on the right side. He was lethargic. He was developing jaundice, but not in the whites of his eyes.
The doctor performed blood work and ordered an MRI, which was performed April 7th. The liver was riddled with tumors. He also had cancer in his bone marrow. He was told to see an oncologist, whic he did April 12. The doctor recommended calling Hospice.
All during this time he was showing up for work. He drove for the last time April 11. The next day he was more tired. He was drinking a Slam Fast in the morning and nothing in the afternoons. Hospice came April 13. He was still quite tired and in pain. He was having a lot of trouble sleeping at night in the last 10 days. His abdomen hurt badly. Ascites developed which made his back sore. April 14th he never got out of bed. He had been groggy for the last week, and was getting more unresponsive. He also developed terrible hiccups. The increased pressure on the abdomen pushed against the phrenic nerve and causes uncontrollable hiccups that persist even while sleeping.
I called Hospice and we thought it best that he go to a care center. He woke up for a little while that day but was very dehydrated and had trouble speaking. He went into the care center that afternoon. He stopped eating. We gave him a morphine drip which made him even more groggy but took away the pain. You see, as the body dies, it dehydrates itself and also becomes malnourished. This causes the ammonia levels in the blood to rise to toxic levels which creates a sedative for the brain. It is the bodys way of dying peacefully.
I saw him one more time. April 15th I went to see him around noon and he was breathing heavily. Short breaths with a rattling of fluids in the lungs. He was breathing though his mouth which he had been doing for several days. I knew he was close to death. I called his name and he woke for a moment then went back to sleep. I left and he died 15 minutes later. I did not go back in the room.
It was exactly one month before that he went to see a doctor. I found a diary beginning January 1st. He noted January 15th as the day his legs began to swell. It lasted about three weeks. He noted Feb 26 as "not feeling good at all, body sore." He was experiencing hot and cold flashes in the last month of his life.
I look back and wish I could have helped him more, said more things. But we never knew it would happen so fast. He went downhill quickly in the last week. He never believed he was going to die. Many things were left undone. I feel sad; so sad, then I remember the great times we spent together and speak with our mutual friends about the past. I am so sorry that you have to go through this. It just isn't fair. Be strong because you will get through it. And when he dies you will experience a feeling of finality that is very refreshing. It is all over. I hope that I was of help to you. I would suggest calling hospice when the time is right and getting some literature about the final days. It helped me greatly. Alex

Monica · New User Joined: 26 Jul 2005 Posts: 1

I wish I had seen this forum before, It would've helped me a lot.
My mom, 52 past away last february 2nd 2005. She died of liver cancer and it all lasted about 8 months, well, the sympthoms, because a liver cancer can be developed over years before even having any sympthoms.
It was so hard and painful to us all, and to tell you the truth there is not much you can do although you will always expect a mirracle to happen. My mom just got 2 dosis of iv chemo and then she took oral chemo. We read a lot on the subject and tried a lot of things, but what gave her a best living quality was accupunture and different herbs because chemotherapy has many side effects and it kills bad and good cells equally, so she had some uncomfortable side effects like soar hands and feet, to mention just one, she couldn't even walk or touch anything.
She started accupunture and herbs the day after she was told she had 2 weeks more. She didn't live 2 weeks but 7 months more after that diagnosis, so you never know. My dad and I read that in Europe, specifically in Germany, they are quitting chemotherapy which has thousands of toxic substances and trying natural treatments to help people with cancer.
I think Leo gave you a great piece of advice by telling you to take one day at a time. That's the best you can do. That's what I kept telling my mom and she really tried to. There will be better days than others.
here's still a long way for you and your family to go trough, but keep your faith and never give up. Always respect your dad's decisions and do your best to keep him comfortable. That will make you feel in peace after everything is over. You'll always feel you could've done more, but I think it's a common feeling in this situations.
My mom died in her bedroom, she did'nt want to die in a hospital so we kept her at home. My beautiful mom died painlessly as my dad, my sister and I held both of her hands. During the last weeks she developed fluid in her lungs, the doctors told us to expect a series of traumatic events, such as asfixia to name one, but none of them happened. She left peacefully surrounded by her loved ones. I hope she's now in a better place.
I sincerely wish the best for your you and your family, you might want to hit me in the eye for saying this but believe it or not sooner or later you'll find a good reason behind all this suffering. We are just finding out ours.
I'm writing from Guadalajara, Mexico so my English is not that good. I hope I made myself understandable.

kanch · New User Joined: 26 Jul 2005 Posts: 7 Location: INDIA

Hi.. Hope this can be of some help.
I lost my mother on 29th May 2005 to liver cancer just 3 weeks after she was diagnosed.The rate of detirioration was really fast and the jaundice increased every minute.The only consolation we have is that she did not suffer.
But after she passed away I found out about a wonder drug on google. Its called haelan and its just soy milk and other ingredients. Its available for sale in the United States.The phone number according to google is
1-800-860-9583..Please do check because it may save a life. according to the web site people have been even cured of cancer..
Will pray for ure father..
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Kanchana Seshadri

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