Treatment for my Mum Second Relaspe

After hearing what Dr Poon says... we went to consult Dr Khoo Kei Siong at Gleaneagles...

Dr Khoo told us during for first consultation that what Dr Poon says are not incorrect... cases like these will eventually lead to recurrences on other sites.... but he feels chemo should be given to control it and prolong the life of the patient.... so there we go with chemo at Gleaneagles....

Never been treated at a private hosp before... u can imagine the differences in costing... as my mum only have basic insurance plan.... we have to top up cash for every chemo cycle.... which amounts to be abt a thousand plus... she had six cycles... a port was directly inserted at the vein on her chest... the chemo drugs will be administered from the port... the port itself already cost near to 1k... she will bring back a small round chemo ball put inside a pouch to have the drug infusion 24 x 7.... the ball will have to have change every 2 weeks.... there is hair loss... the side effects are quite terrible.... she has mouth ulcers... bone aches till she cant sleep.... no appetite etc.... sigh... the list goes on....

After finishing the sixth cycle.... Dr suggested to keep the port there.... as if knowing she will need it again.....

Just after 2 months after the last cycle.... she found the red nodules again..... my mum was devastated... she know the cancer was back... despite going thru the terrible side effects and spending so much money... the cancer came back in just 2 months.... my mum 3rd relaspe...

When Dr Khoo saw the nodules...he told me its likely cancer.... so he send my mum for a CT scan....but results back are cleared.... which we are very happy.... He says since the cancer is still confined to the chestwall area... he is thinking of letting my mum do chestwall resection which is a major operation....

Hmm... when we first saw him...I ask him whether my mum can do surgery to remove the nodules...he say not possible as there is nothing left to remove.... maybe that time he also felt that the cancer will spread so no point to do the big operation of removing the whole chestwall... So when the cancer came back and CT scan show no spread.... it is worth considering the big op.... since he know the chemo alone will not help to get rid of the cancer....

However he warned us that the chestwall resection surgery is a big operation.... it requires a general surgeon and a thoracic surgeon to remove the whole chestwall..... a plastic surgeon to remove the tummy whole tissue to patch up the chestwall.... meaning the whole operation will need a long recovery and requires a big sum of money (more than 20k).... Even that... he wont be able to guarantee that the op will cure my mum.... there may be microscopic cancer cells at other sites.... but going chemo again before the op will try to minimize the risks.... so its a tough decision....

I dont know whether I should let my mum go through a painful operation.... having to risk her on a big operation and knowing that it is not a 100% cure.... I really do not know...

But after thinking hard.... I think a surgery still offers the best chance for my mum.... and Dr Khoo recommended doing at NCC with Dr Koong, a Thoracic surgeon....

One thing that makes us very glad was that despite we are referred to NCC from Gleaneagles... my mum still enjoys sub rates by staying at B2... so its a form of relieve for us.... really..

The details of the op was shared on one of my previous entry...