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Posted 6/30/2010 5:25 PM (GMT 0)
Hello, everyone! Went to the dr yesterday and found out some things I didn't know and neither did my sisters (who were with me for my surgery).

Evidently I had liver cancer. The dr said that I should have been classified as 4A, which he explained meant that I should not have had the transplant. That's not so good. I had a microscopic vascular tumor invasion in a vessel in the liver that no one could see. It had to be seen microscopically. My meld score, he said, was 22. So, I almost didn't have the transplant. THANK GOD I did, though.

 

Posted 6/30/2010 5:34 PM (GMT 0)

You certainly lucked out with that!  Sometimes, having cancer will increase your MELD score.  I'm not sure if it's up to the individual transplant centers or depends on where the tumor is located, size, etc.  I had a tumor that took up the entire right lobe and had spread into the inferior vena cava, so I wasn't a transplant candidate.  Instead, I had treatment to shrink and kill the tumor and excision of the rt. lobe.

Hugs,

Connie

Posted 6/30/2010 7:34 PM (GMT 0)
Praise God... so thankful for this... way to go!! turn yeah
Posted 7/1/2010 12:14 AM (GMT 0)
I am thinking God was completely in control of this situation! So glad you did have your transplant!!! And, also hoping you are doing well!!
Posted 7/1/2010 12:37 AM (GMT 0)
Twelve days after my transplant, I was back for a check up with my surgeon. I had some general questions about the procedure. He showed me the report on my surgery and then he told me that the biopsy on my old liver had just come back. I stood looking over his shoulder as he explained the report. They found two cancerous tumors. All I could think was, s**t, here we go again. Then he said not to worry, they were small and hadn't spread. As he put it: "We removed the problem." It sounds as though we both lucked out.
Posted 7/1/2010 12:48 AM (GMT 0)
I am hearing more and more of people that have found out they had tumors in their liver, even though their AFP was normal, etc. That's the one thing I worry about w/ my husband. His MELD is low, he's been battling this for 6 years, but yet he continues to feel REALLY bad. AFP is normal, ultrasound of abdomin not showing any signs of lesions, etc, but it really does make you wonder!
Posted 7/1/2010 2:25 AM (GMT 0)
Mer, has he ever had an abdominal CT scan with contrast or an MRI with Gadolinium? Those would show cancer for sure.

Hugs,
Connie
Posted 7/1/2010 3:36 AM (GMT 0)
Connie, no he has not. Wondering if I should really push the issue for one?
Posted 7/1/2010 3:48 AM (GMT 0)
You might want to. My tumor, when it was first seen and diagnosed on sonogram, was 12 cm x 11.5 cm and took up the entire rt. lobe and had spread into the vena cava. The ultrasound the year before was read as "normal." After diagnosis and before treatment, there was a year's wait in which the tumor did not grow more. I believe that it was missed on ultrasound the previous year. They are just not as good a diagnostic tool as a CT or MRI.

Hugs,
Connie
Posted 7/1/2010 4:26 AM (GMT 0)
MIke was having cat scan every 3 months.. watching the cancer... and ultra sounds even more regularly...
Posted 7/1/2010 7:34 PM (GMT 0)
When he goes back again, I think I am going to insist he have a CT scan w/ contrast. If anything, it would put my mind at ease!
Posted 7/1/2010 9:55 PM (GMT 0)
Tell them you feel that cancer should be ruled out.

Hugs,
Connie
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