25 Best things to do for HCC Liver Cancer
I wanted to share my personal list of the 25 Best things to do for HCC Liver Cancer. Ever since being diagnosed with Hepatocellular liver cancer from end stage cirrhosis my life has become crazy! When we were kids, we always drank from the water hose in the summer. (mom locked us out of the house all day sometimes.) But trying to get ready for the TACE procedure while getting listed for a transplant is like trying to drink water from a fire hose.
Up to this point in my life, living through the Hepatitis C treatment for 43 weeks was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I remember struggling to decide whether or not to treat for the Hepatitis C Virus. I was working hard to get my MELD down for months. Then I finally got to treat and the hurdle was struggling with the side effects. Once I hit SVR or sustained viral response, my biggest concern was diet and lifestyle to help me battle varices, hepatic encephalopathy, and fatigue. When the doctors discovered a tumor, a whole new round of problems emerged. Gulp! I think I’m drowning.
In the last week I have started a series of blogs on everything from hepatocellular carcinoma screening to MELD scores, UNOS, Ablation, TACE, and fear. I decided to just let em sit for a while because to be honest, there is no way I can organize my thoughts. So, I am going to tell you what I CAN do. Because anything I can do, I know that you – my dear besties – can do it too if you are faced with the same problems.
If this list is a bit overwhelming… don’t judge me! Until you hear the cancer word, you have NO idea how you will react. I have gone in 50 directions during the last few weeks. Sometimes I cycle around to the same things repeatedly. Here is my Top 25 Best things to do for HCC Liver Cancer list in no particular order:
- Pray. Loud, hard, and long.
- Tell my family and friends face to face.
- Start a new spiral notebook with catagories for Self Care, Medical Stuff, Insurance, Important phone numbers, etc. Really vital stuff for me and for my daughter.
- Cry on my husband’s shoulder. Snot everywhere. Kinda romantic, kinda not.
- Listen to audios and videos with healing words, messages, scriptures, and music.
- Research cancer fighting foods. I printed so much stuff… I put them on the ice box door. I made grocery lists. I made some changes, but also congratulated myself on a job well done.
- Think a lot about my bucket list. Deciding what is REALLY important in life. Making a vision board and new notes to hang in my home.
- Make an inventory of any areas of anxiety, resentment, unforgiveness, fear, guilt.
- Deal with those areas by writing, listening to my inner voice, praying, and getting honest with loved ones.
- Put away my box of Pop Tarts. That was hard, but it was something I worried about. It’s my only dietary vice.
- Feel guilty. I do not know where that came from, but I blamed my diet, laziness, and other vague things that came from past events.
- Get on Facebook and read encouraging words and pray for friends while reading posts.
- Spend a lot of time with family and friends.
- Get a new computer and wrestle with Windows 8. Gave up and traded for a Mac.
- Get on my exercise ball and bounce around the living room. Not sure what that is about.
- Get really mad.
- Do lots of yoga and exercise.
- Spend hours on Nazhi Zuhdi Transplant Center website and Integris Cancer website.
- Meet new people to talk to on the phone from hospital, doctors, and insurance company. Filling out mountains of paperwork.
- Take sick leave from my job. Sad sad day.
- Lie in bed depressed and hurting all over. Throw a pity party with myself as guest of honor.
- Ride my bike.
- Go to the Forest of Peace to Eat, Pray, Love, and meditate.
- Juice a lot of vegetables. Ate a cheeseburger happy meal. Idk…
- Listen to a fave 30 minute meditation audio and visualize my body and the chemo attacking the tumor. Repeat this daily.
I have done a lot of other things that do not come to mind right now. My house is messy. My grandkids have been in and out a LOT. I have been really strong. I have been really weak. I have fallen apart. I have gotten it together. I have been a bit sassy. I have been a blubbering idiot.
Most of all I have put together a plan for survival. Things have changed a lot in the last few weeks. I am changing to meet the demands. I am taking small sips of life. That firehouse gulping almost drowned me.
We can decide which of the Top 25 Best things to do for HCC Liver Cancer should be repeated and continued. We can also look at which are one time events.
I am giving myself permission to just be. I tend to be a little hard on myself and leave very little to chance. I am resting more: Resting in my own individual way of dealing with circumstances and resting in my family’s support. I am resting in the love from all my Best Friends in forums, FB, and here on the site. I am resting in my Creator’s loving care.
Four years ago I did not know what Hepatitis C was. Today, I am still dealing with the effects of the deadly virus. I am extremely excited about the amount of action that has been taken regarding testing and treatment in recent years. I am thrilled that many of you will never have to use this list for cancer because you got detected and treated early.
Still others of you may have some liver damage, but are using my liver loving diet and are taking good care of yourselves. Some of you are going in for screenings for liver cancer and I pray you will never have to face this. BUT –
I hope this list will help you no matter where you are in your journey. We’ve become connected through this deadly virus. But it is NOT our true connection. We meet at a place where love is offered. Where we can learn to move beyond illness into our best lives. Where a good list always begins in prayer and meditation and ends with visualizing the BEST possible outcome for any situation you are facing.
All my love to you, xoxo Karen
How will you use the Top 25 Best things to do for HCC Liver Cancer list?
pics via thepaisano, bestadsontv, wikipedia, livercancercure
9 thoughts on “25 Best things to do for HCC Liver Cancer”
The most beautiful real humbling words I have read… Beautiful grace and hope…❤️
Debbie,
Thank you sis. Our journeys have been very similiar. Thank goodness that you have been able to go back to work. I am praying that your body will be strong. Take care of yourself! It looks like I’m going to take a break from work for a while. The financial stuff we deal with make it tuff. But YES! WE have hope and we live in grace..
Much love,
Karen:)
Hello my friend Karen,
It’s so nice to see you on g+! Sounds like you have been a busy lady! Thanks for sharing your journey.
My thoughts and prayers are with you!
Love, Sheri
Sheri,
Thank you for stopping by. I’ve been eating a lot of healthy food and think of you often. We always strive to support our own healing.
My best to you with thanks for prayers,
xoxo Karen:)
Sheri,
I hope this finds you feeling well! I love your healthy food posts on G+. Just finished a bowl of chili w quinoa. It’s my fave this week! I know that nutrition is why the doctors are saying that my blood labs are strong and I am ready for a transplant. I’ve gotten even more strict on some sugars that I indulged in.
Your diet is sure to bring health to you. Your sweet heart always brings encouragement to me.
Thanks love,
Karen:)
I just finished reading “I don’t want a Liver Transplant” and 25 things to do for HCC. I really needed to read these. I have never wanted a transplant. For the 30+ years I have lived with Hep C and part of those with cirrohosis, I have always said I will not have a transplant. Then I changed it to, I will not have a transplant over the age of 50. And I mean it! Reasons: If God wants me, I am going….I have two brain aneurysms, I thought these would keep me off the list…I get moonface from prednisone…I am allergic to so many medications and some are necessary for the transplant… At age 62, I feel so guilty going through the steps for a transplant. Not only that, it has only been a month since I was diagnosed, my first TACE is Aug 3rd, and my husband is already complaining about all the confusion from phone calls and doctors. He said, “life would be so much easier if you would just not have the transplant.” I told him it was not my choice. With cancer tumors it is almost a must. But is it? Do I still have a choice?San Francisco is one of the hardest places to get a transplant. It is the only place I am covered through insurance to have one. Their requirements are very strict and hard. I am also afraid I will come out with something worse. The blood tranfusions that got me into this mess came from SF donors. I have always considered myself fortunate I did not get anything else. I have no living biological family left. I have only my husband and his son and wife. Who is going to be nice to me and help me through this? I know a few days after my TACE that my husband will see me out of bed and ask “what’s for dinner?. Sad, but true. He suffers from severe depression and will not move from the couch unless he has to go to school to teach…then he is fine. There have been times, since my retirement, that I have actually had to get ready in less than 20 minutes and go to school with him (I am a cleared volunteer), just so he could make it to the classroom. Sometimes, I just feel like I will leave it in God’s hands and when I go, I will be with my son,mom, and dad. I pray that when I get up today, that I will have a revelation like you did. Maybe, I just need more time. But, thank you for the wonderful words in your blogs and I will try to let them flow through me as I lie in bed. When I take the psych eval on Thurs I am going to be honest…this is going to be harder than it should be because I have to find my own help and support from outside my home. I told my husband this…he agreed and went to sleep. I know I am probably depressing you and for that I am sorry. I am not depressed, just scared and confused.
Thank you for reading…I love that I can write you and know you understand the whys behind my feelings.
Love,
Sheila
Oh sweetie, I am so very sorry for what you are experiencing. It sounds like you are a giving caring person who now needs some care yourself. Does your husband realize that if you don’t go for the transplant you will die? There may be some help for you after your transplant through SF. You are going to need help after transplant. I am sending you a link for the TACE procedure so you can read about that. I am sorry for your suffering. I wish I had the power to take it away. There are volunteer services in every state. When you get to the social worker, someone you will see during your interviews for the transplant, they could help you with someone to come to your home. When my friend was suffering and her husband would ask “where’s dinner, she would direct him to the Corn Flakes” 🙂
https://www.ihelpc.com/tace-for-liver-tumor-from-hepatitis-and-cirrhosis/
Thank you Dee for your response to my message. I have always had the same opinion regarding transplant a I do now. I cannot even take an aspirin with having a reaction. I discussed things with my husband this morning. I also wrote my doctor. Sometimes, a person cannot just up and change a way of thinking just because (in this case) doctors are moving so fast and doing their job to save a life. They perhaps have never come across a person like me. This is not abot fear of death, fear of surgery, this about quality of life and not quantity. Sleeping on it did not change my views overnight. I spoke of my husband, and as true as the statements are that I made, it does not make him a bad person. He loves me and is scared. We are on the same page. When I die, it will be my time. I will see my son. Until then, I am slowing the wheels down a bit, doing my TACE and going from there. I do not even meet with my doctor until Aug. 13th and then that was only because I requested it. Kaiser is not a transplant care facility…so I must look out for myself. Most people will not understand, so I am not going into my resons. They are not religious. I am well educated, been through many illnesses, almost died twice, and have lost a son. I know my mind well.
Thank you for your care and response.
Sheila
Hello there! I can only imagine how you are feeling. I know that when I was going through a lot of testing when first having problems with HCV,then treating it was just so much. When I felt I could not keep up or it was too overwhelming; I would just deal with one item at a time. It sounds like that is what you are going to do and I applaud you. First getting through the TACE, then you can go on from there. You should do whatever you feel comfortable with. I hope I did not say anything wrong in my earlier post. I just wanted to be supportive. If I can I try to give information. This is a huge decision. I agree about quality of life vs quantity. I am really sorry to hear about your sensitivity to medications. I know that Karen was on 80 pills a day immediately after her transplant, that is quite a bit. She lived with a friend for the first two months or so. Also a cousin moved in as well to help. It was a big job. To be honest with you, after all I have been through since 2007 I do not know what I would do if cancer was found in my liver today. Since being cured of HCV my liver has improved quite a bit over the past 3 years. All we can do is try to do our best, be caring of ourselves and those in our lives.
I hope that your TACE goes well and I hope you will keep in touch. Take care of yourself. I am praying for you, sending good thoughts in your direction, Dee
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