Patient Stories and Testimonials

Our Experience in Fighting My Dad's Liver Cancer

About a year and a half ago my Dad was diagnosed with a lump in his liver. It was first thought to be a benign tumor, but further tests confirmed it to be a hepatoma. We were in complete shock and disbelief because my Dad had no symptoms at all. He lived a very normal life and carried on with his work. The news was very hard for our family to accept and we very worried since we had very little knowledge about this disease. After my dad transferred to USC medical center for treatment we learned from the medical staff a great deal about my Dad's liver cancer and the process of fighting it. We began working very diligently with the USC medical staff to begin treatment. His treatment plan includes chemotherapy sessions and preparation to get on the UNOS list for liver transplantation. The USC staff was most useful in walking us through the listing process and educated us various options, including live donor liver transplant which my Dad is considering.

Thus far my Dad have gone through two sessions of chemotherapy. The first session was the most difficult for him in terms of recovering from the side effects, which included vomiting, pain in the abdominal area, nausea, lack of appetite, and general fatigue. It took him about 3 weeks to recover to 90%. All that has paid off as he responded slightly favorable to the treatment. His AFP improved from 6400 to about 4500 whiles his tumor size stabilized. He was given another chemo treatment a month after the first. This time he responded amazingly well against the side effects. It took him about 1 week to recover to 90%, and the side effects were much less severe. He only experienced slight fatigue and nausea. In two months time, his AFP has gone down to 34 from 4500 and his tumor shrunk 2/3 in size! He is scheduled to receive a 3rd treatment soon. We're very grateful that the USC medical team has done such a tremendous job in the treatments, and mostly importantly, they are very responsive to our concerns and have taken the extra effort to ease our pain whichever way possible. Because of that, my Dad has been successfully listed on UNOS for a liver transplant.

As for coping with his disease in everyday life, my dad has learned to be very optimistic and have a very good outlook. For the last year or so, we've have been leading a normal life and paying visits to the hospital for scheduled treatments and follow up's. I've founded that our family support is very critical in helping my Dad fight his disease. He's very comforted knowing that we're there for him. I've also founded that the informative and helpful staff at USC really provided my Dad with a better understanding and anticipation of his situation. As a result, he is very mentally ready.