The 55-year-old Uncle Lin is a company employee in Zhaoqing City, and because of his job, he inevitably smokes and drinks a lot and stays up late.
The vague pain in the upper right abdomen was diagnosed as “massive liver cancer”
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Since the beginning of last year, Uncle Lin has been feeling less energetic than before, easily fatigued during the day, often unmotivated, and his appetite is not as strong as before, and he is losing weight.
But Uncle Lin didn’t take it personally, reassuring his family, “It’s normal for people to lose energy when they get old, so just pay attention to rest.” Everyone didn’t think otherwise either.
However, after a period of time, not only did Uncle Lin’s condition not improve, but he developed a vague pain in his upper right abdomen. The family did not dare to delay and immediately accompanied him to the hospital.
According to his symptoms, the doctor arranged for a CT scan of his abdomen, and the report came out quickly: a hypointense shadow in the upper part of the right posterior lobe of the liver, with further enhancement recommended.
On the advice of the doctor, Uncle Lin was admitted to the hepatobiliary surgery department for detailed examination to confirm the nature of the liver occupancy.
The first key item was alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), which is specific for confirming liver cancer. Uncle Lin’s measured AFP was over 7,000, much higher than normal.
Subsequently, the results of CT enhancement of the upper abdomen were not encouraging: a 9.1*7.1 cm hypointense shadow was seen in the upper right lobe of the liver, which was considered to be a possible giant hepatocellular carcinoma in the upper right lobe.
“Massive hepatocellular carcinoma”, what a terrible word! The bad news came like a bolt from the blue, and the sky seemed to be falling for Uncle Lin’s family.
Doctors recommend intervention before surgery
The doctor explained in detail the condition of Uncle Lin’s family. The patient’s current diagnosis is “primary massive hepatocellular carcinoma in the right lobe of the liver”. The only way to cure liver cancer is surgery, but Uncle Lin’s liver cancer is so large that the volume of the remaining liver after removal of the cancer is too small to meet normal needs, making surgery very risky.
However, despite the large diameter of the liver cancer in Uncle Lin’s body, nearly 10 cm, it did not involve major blood vessels in the liver. And the left half of the liver that was not invaded by the tumor showed compensatory hyperplasia, suggesting that surgical resection still had a chance.
The doctors recommended interventional treatment to block the blood supply to the tumor and allow it to shrink and shrink before resection.
With the doctor’s patience and encouragement, Uncle Lin and his family regained hope and were willing to trust the doctor and actively cooperate with the treatment.
After the intervention, Uncle Lin experienced mild fever and pain in the liver area, which the doctor explained was a normal reaction caused by tumor necrosis and would soon heal on its own. The symptoms did disappear after a few days, and the family’s trust in the doctor increased a few more points.
A month later, after a review of the CT, Uncle Lin’s tumor “shrunk” to 6.5*6.1 cm, and the opportunity for surgery came!
After 5 hours of hard work, the tumor was finally removed intact.
Regular review of chemotherapy on schedule, liver cancer successfully cured without recurrence
After the successful surgery, a big stone finally fell from the hearts of Uncle Lin’s family.
The surgery was only a key step in the treatment process, and in order to prevent the recurrence of liver cancer, post-operative chemotherapy is also required on a regular basis.
On the advice of his doctor, Uncle Lin had an “infusion port” placed under his right clavicle, a device for subsequent chemotherapy injections, which prevents the chemotherapy drugs from irritating the blood vessels. He was then discharged from the hospital.
Every 3 weeks, Uncle Lin returned to the hospital for chemotherapy and to review the tumor for recurrence of metastases. It is encouraging that liver cancer has not reappeared in Uncle Lin’s body. In his battle with the disease, Uncle Lin has finally won.
Uncle Lin’s example tells us that liver cancer does not have to be a terminal disease, and that it can be cured as long as one is optimistic and confident and actively receives comprehensive treatment.
Liver cancer patients should not “rush to the doctor”
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Nowadays, the developed internet has given us more information channels. The strong desire to survive has also made some liver cancer patients look into any treatment method, and they are prone to “rush to the doctor”.
Many people even ignore formal treatment because they believe in the prescriptions, thus missing the best time to treat liver cancer, which is the reason why many liver cancer patients are not cured.
In fact, due to advances in modern medical technology, many liver cancer patients have been completely cured. Some patients, although not completely cured, have extended their survival and achieved a higher quality of life.
So don’t panic after discovering liver cancer, and don’t give up treatment or even lose the will to live because of fear. It is important to maintain a balanced mindset and actively accept and cooperate with treatment.
There is hope that liver cancer can be cured if you choose a professional and regular hospital in time and receive the right treatment.