Today David and I had our consultation with Dr. Komlos, the Interventional Radiologist who will perform my TACE procedure. Dr. Dormady really holds Dr. Komlos in the highest regard. And as a side note, I'm lucky to have Dr. Dormady on my side. Dr. Komlos was on vacation last week until today. While he was away I called to schedule my appointment with him and was told that he was booked for two weeks. So, I scheduled for April 23rd and let Dr. Dormady know. Behind the scenes, Dr. Dormady called Dr. Komlos and the next thing I know I got a phone call saying that Dr. Komlos called and said for them to move me to April 11th. What an awesome team of doctors.
Dr. Komlos described the procedure to me, most of which I already knew since I looked it up online. He said that I have two options at this point: the chemoembolization which is the procedure I have described in a previous post. A catheter will be inserted in my femoral artery and will be threaded up to my liver and then Irinotecan-saturated beads will be inserted into my liver which will then emit chemotherapy into my liver for two weeks. There's another very similar procedure that could be done, but instead of chemotherapy-saturated beads, the beads would emit radiation. But he thinks that in my case (where only one lesion is present) the chemoembolization is the better choice so that we can save additional radiation procedures for later when it may be needed more.
The procedure will be a 30-minute procedure done while sedated. I will stay in the hospital overnight for observation and to make sure any pain is controlled. He said I would then be fatigued and have a decreased appetite for 2-3 weeks. I can handle that.
Dr. Komlos said he doesn't think this procedure will completely get rid of the current lesion that I have and that I may need to CyberKnife it at a later date. The purpose of this procedure is to knock down additional tumor cells that are trying to rally, preventing lesions that are not present now but would be in the future. That will allow us to then focus on this one that is present without having additional ones pop up right afterwards.
The procedure is scheduled for Wednesday April 24th, and will proceed as long as the insurance authorization does not get in the way. So far the insurance has been mostly cooperative, so hopefully they will continue to be so.
I was hoping that I would have the MRI report from yesterday but it isn't completed yet. When I have that I will post it.
Thanks for the updates, these new modern medical procedures are miracles, beyond the imagination a few years ago. You being in the right place at the time these are needed is another one. I will be watching for the updates you are so kind to provide to all of us. Love to you and David and the furry kids... :)
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