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TANYA


My husband and I were together for seven years but only married for a year when we decided to have a child. Last year december he started complaining about a drilling sensation in his right upper stomach area. he went to the doctor who told him he had irritable bowel syndrome becouse of the changes of bowel movement and also the stress he was under. Well, in January we found out I was pregnant. He decided to quit smoking because it would be bad for the baby and was therefore going to the doctor every week becouse he was on the patch. Each week he complained about the pain. He was given antacids. Many nights he would be up in pain. Eventually, he did a bariun enema, and barium meal and a host of other tests. The result was islet cell carcinoma which had metastisized to his liver. This diagnosis was made on april 23 1998. He met with onc. in Miami and chemo was recommended. One week of chemo every 28 days. The effects of the tumor and chemo was phenomenal. The deterioration was incredible. Diarrhea, retention of fluid, loss of appetite, weakness, fatigue and weight loss, jaundice to name a few. he was on so much medication but they had to be careful about pain medication for fear of liver failure. I injected him with a seratonin blocker twice daily but his disease was too far advanced. he died on June 29, 1998. I was seven months pregnant. He used to say he only wanted to live to see the baby but never made it. He was 53 years old. he died at home in my arms. I don't want to depress anyone diagnosed with this disease or anyone caring for someone with this disease because his case was late diagnosis. That does not necessarily mean it will be the same for you. I do wish I found this site when I was going through the whole thing and if I can be of any help to anyone please feel free to contact me. I intentionally left out some of the details because every case is different. My New Years resolution is to make a difference.I live in Jamaica and hope to somehow help patients here. By the way, I had a healthy, happy baby girl in Sept.

Posted 12/13/1998 11:05 am by Tanya
E-mail Address: tpais@cwjamaica.com

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