May 16, 2024
We met Dr. K and his PA today. Both were very likeable. Dr. K explained two options to attempt to manage the disease in David’s liver. Like we read previously, one option is a guided ablation and the other is Y-90 radioembolization. He explained that the ablation would involve deep sedation and the use of guided needles that would be guided into his liver to the tumors that could be seen. The needles would be heated and would bust up the tumor. This would not cause any damage to the background liver. He said he could do up to 5 at a time and only one side at a time. He said he counted 7 that he could see on the scan. He noted one tumor was resting in the liver under David’s heart and this one would be difficult to ablate due to the location. He explained y-90 was done by a catheter that would be inserted into David’s arm under a lesser anesthesia and guided to the liver in order to release radioactive beads that would ideally seek and destroy any cancer in the liver seen or unseen. This procedure causes damage to the background liver and will cause the liver to look cirrhotic and can affect function. He said the choice was David’s and suggested if it were him, he would go with ablation first and then have a scan about a month later to see what shows. Y-90 could be saved until we see if further involvement appears. He said David’s liver looked to be in good shape even after the chemo (chemo damages the liver among other things). The scheduler is to reach out to us to schedule the procedure. After leaving, David said he felt better about the information but was anxious about another procedure. I assured him anyone would be. David is not fearless. Who really is? What he is though is brave and willing to do what it takes to live. I am frightened of all of these things. I am terrified of the reality of all of this. He manages to keep us both stable enough for us to take one step at a time and then move forward with all the hope two people could possibly have in this situation. We are grateful to have options and each other.
After the appointment, we did not quite recreate the good day out we had last week but we stopped at Lowes for a new tub water spout and also bought a big potted lantana for the back patio so we could look out and see something blooming and possibly attract some butterflies. We had lunch and came home to unpack from the trip.
