amberdriver8 said:...so yeah, I just wanted to jump in here because my mom was actually suffering for five whole years from this terrifying stomach cancer called GIST, which ended up spreading to other organs too... I won't drag this out, but honestly, we all went through absolute hell, both mentally and physically, with her being in such horrible pain, and toward the end, her abdomen got so swollen, it was just awful, really... but thank God, and thank Dr. Kocman, who recently operated on her even though they said the chances of survival were super slim. And don't even get me started on how we spent five years searching for a surgeon—we looked everywhere across the globe, truly, and nobody would even touch it, then suddenly this great American doctor comes along and performs the surgery, and I'm still kind of in shock, but in a good way!!! Everything is okay now... he removed everything, I think the tumor and the metastases, although he had to shorten her large intestine and stomach a bit... but hey, if it makes her look "fit" since she'll be eating less, I'll take it, haha! All in all, she's cured, and they say no one is supposed to live more than five years with GIST... so, there's God and there are amazing doctors. Alternative stuff didn't help much, so feel free to ask me for any advice or anything regarding malignant diseases
My dad was given the exact same diagnosis just a few weeks ago... apparently it's an inoperable tumor, mostly because during the first surgery they only did a biopsy thinking it was pancreatic cancer. However, the pathology report showed there were no tumor cells in the pancreas and the actual diagnosis is GIST (low risk). Right now, they've suggested surgery and therapy with Gleevec, though the surgeons probably won't decide on a second operation right away. Could you tell me which doctor operated on your mom and where? You can just send me a private message if that's easier...