PLEASE PRAY FOR MY DAD!

Thank you.

Well, they called and said that there are two extremely small spots on his liver. One is 1.2 cm and the other is .4 cm. They said it if its cancer, it is operable, thank God. However she said that one of this tumor markers (CEA) came back in the normal range, so that is a good sign. The other takes a few days.

So, you are saying they can't tell if it is cancer by doing the blood work? Someone told me that the sonogram he is going for is the same as a liver biopsy. Is that true?

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Posted by DeniseMang

Thank you.

Well, they called and said that there are two extremely small spots on his liver. One is 1.2 cm and the other is .4 cm. They said it if its cancer, it is operable, thank God. However she said that one of this tumor markers (CEA) came back in the normal range, so that is a good sign. The other takes a few days.

So, you are saying they can't tell if it is cancer by doing the blood work? Someone told me that the sonogram he is going for is the same as a liver biopsy. Is that true?

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no it isn't the same as a biopsy imo...and no i they usually can't tell by blood work.

BUT i am happy to hear that they caught it early! That is KEY!!!!!!!!
sonogram only shows spots and how big it is usually...
a biopsy tells if there is a malignancy

Thanks!

But we don't even know yet if it is cancer...

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Posted by DeniseMang

Thanks!

But we don't even know yet if it is cancer...

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oh well then you have to wait for the biopsy!

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Posted by RedHead

no it isn't the same as a biopsy imo...and no i they usually can't tell by blood work.

BUT i am happy to hear that they caught it early! That is KEY!!!!!!!!

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Yes...catching it early is a good thing. Thank God it's operable!! I will continue to keep
him in my prayers!

The fact that the CEA is in the normal range is a very good sign - if it were elevated, that would be an indication of cancer.

Are they planning to do a biopsy to confirm? Bloodwork (like the CEA test) is okay, but a biopsy would be more definitive.

I know.

Well the oncologist told my parents that they could tell from the sonogram by how it echo's if it is a tumor. I guess I will have to make sure they send him for a liver biopsy.

Does anyone know how they do that? Is it surgery or like laprascopy?

I would hope they would. I will tell my parents to make sure they do... I will have my Mom call the nurse back and ask her.

Thank you so much, you gave me such hope! Do you know what the other test they do is called? And which one is a better indicator? The CEA or the second one?

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Posted by DeniseMang

I know.

Well the oncologist told my parents that they could tell from the sonogram by how it echo's if it is a tumor. I guess I will have to make sure they send him for a liver biopsy.

Does anyone know how they do that? Is it surgery or like laprascopy?

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YES...you must do this right away! The faster it gets biopsied (and if it is cancerous) they will be able to do have it removed!
IMO you shouldn't wait at all!

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Posted by DeniseMang

I would hope they would. I will tell my parents to make sure they do... I will have my Mom call the nurse back and ask her.

Thank you so much, you gave me such hope! Do you know what the other test they do is called? And which one is a better indicator? The CEA or the second one?

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Was the other test ADH or AFP, maybe? There are a bunch of other tumor markers that are just numbers, like 17 and 19. But I can't remember which cancers they detect. Whatever the second test was, was it in the normal range?

I thought that CEA was used to detect metastatic cancer, so if it's not elevated I guess that means those spots are not from his esophageal cancer (which is good news - metastatic cancer can be aggressive)...but it doesn't necessarily say that the spots on his liver aren't cancer.

If the spots are cancerous, it means that the doctors detected it very early on, before it can spread and lead to an elevated CEA result.

So there is definitely reason to be hopeful!!

A biopsy would tell you for sure, but I don't know how invasive it is for the liver. They might want to monitor the spots with sono and blood work for a while before they do a biopsy.

No, I am not sure what the other test wes called. She didn't tell me. She just said that it takes a little longer to get the results back. No, we haven't gotten the results of the second test back yet.

That would make sense, because they are checking him from any metastatic cancer from the Esophageal Cancer he had.

Thank you so much for your help. So, it is ok, that they are not doing an immediate biopsy at this point, correct?

Are they able to tell what the spots are (cysts, etc.) from a sonogram?

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Posted by DeniseMang

Well what do we do if the dr's office (oncologist) is off for the week? You are scaring me now. Is a week to long to wait?

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no that is fine..sorry i didn't mean to scare you...but from the way you were talking i thouhgt you we 'considering' the biopsy not definately making the appt asap!

My thoughts and prayers are with your dadddy! I am praying for good news.

Oh no. I plan to tell my Mom to call the oncologist as soon as they return and demand a biopsy. I mean she could make an app't somewhere now, but she doesn't not have a prescription for one. No one has even mentioned biopsy yet. But I will let her know we need one ASAP!

Thanks so much all of your girls! :) You really put my mind at ease!

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Posted by DeniseMang

No, I am not sure what the other test wes called. She didn't tell me. She just said that it takes a little longer to get the results back. No, we haven't gotten the results of the second test back yet.

That would make sense, because they are checking him from any metastatic cancer from the Esophageal Cancer he had.

Thank you so much for your help. So, it is ok, that they are not doing an immediate biopsy at this point, correct?

Are they able to tell what the spots are (cysts, etc.) from a sonogram?

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I'm sure it's fine that they aren't requiring an immediate biopsy. I believe it is possible to tell whether the spots have characteristics of cancer just with a sono. They are probably planning to wait for the results of the second test before deciding anything. But with your dad's history in mind, I don't think it would hurt to ask whether they think a biopsy is indicated at this time.