Death rates are declining for many common cancers in the U.S., report finds
I created this account on July 28, 2014 [1] - I had(have?) stage IV Colon Cancer with liver metastases. I did a FOLFIRI regime with cetaximab, then a colon resection with a general surgeon.<p>My oncologist was great (ucsf medical center) - but the surgeon refused to address my liver mets - they were too large and distributed.<p>My wife found out about a specialist at Sloan-Kettering in Manhattan that uses something called a Hepatic Arterial Infusion Pump - a hockypuck that delivers 50x a chemo dose directly to the liver. That was implanted in my abdomen and I flew between SF and New York to get it refilled every 4 weeks for six months. Their surgeon then resected 75% of my liver. (Skipping a few steps here. I had another met that they couldn’t get surgically and they got it with 10 rounds of radiation.)<p>My company was very supportive and our health insurance picked up most of the cost - over US $2million (so far?)<p>I was hospitalized several times after the surgeries for post operative infections - in a way they seemed far more difficult for the doctors to address than the cancer itself.<p>Oh, while the Cetaximab shrank the tumors, the skin rash it caused was absolutely wretched - my cuticles would bleed and had to wear finger cots and gloves to protect them. And my eyelashes grew about 3x their normal length.<p>[1] <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8095321" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8095321</a>