Gallstones

What is Gall bladder?

Gall bladder is a small organ below the liver in the upper right abdomen. It’s a pouch that stores bile, a green-yellow liquid that helps with digestion.

What are Gallstones?

80 %  of gallstones are formed when there’s too much cholesterol in the bile. Other 20 percent of gallstones are made of calcium salts . The exact reason behind formation of gallstones is still unknown.

Having too much cholesterol in your bile can lead to yellow cholesterol stones. These hard stones may develop if your liver makes more cholesterol than your bile can dissolve.

Symptoms

Gallstones can lead to pain in the upper right abdomen. You may start to have gallbladder pain from time to time when you eat foods that are high in fat, such as fried foods. The pain doesn’t usually last more than a few hours.

Symptoms (Biliary Colic)  

1. Indigestion
2. Stomach pain
3. Nausea 
4. Vomiting
5. Colored stools
6. Colored Urine
7. Burp
8. Diarrhea 

Asymptomatic Gallstones

Gallstones actually don’t cause pain. The pain usually occurs when the gallstones blocks the movement of bile from the gallbladder.

Gallstones are detected through X-rays or during abdomen surgery.

I love you papa, forever!

Causes of Gallbladder Cancer

There are no definite reasons/conditions that can be held responsible for developing cancerous growth in one's body. Nor there is any such thing as prevention, but yes there are certain factors which have been found as the precursor to cancer and related ailments in  the human body. Different cancers have different risk factors.

Gallbladder cancer actually is  the abnormal growth of cells within the gallbladder. Although  actual reasons are unknown. But certain conditions may increase  the chances of getting cancer cells in the body. For instance

Lifestyle related:  such as being overweight, smoking, unhealthy food habits, personal health and age .

Other factors that put one at the risk of developing gallbladder cancer. 

1. Gallstones
2. Cholecystitis (inflammation of the gallbladder),  and 
3. Diabetes

Family related:  If one has a family history of gallstones, cholecystitis, or gallbladder cancer, then he/she is more likely to develop these conditions.

Having a risk factor, or even several risk factors, does not necessarily mean that a person will get cancer.  There have been cases where despite of being exposed to the risks, people have lived  a very healthy and cancer free life.  And many people who get the disease may have few or no  risk factors et all.

The crux is anyone can get cancer at any age. The only solution is to remain aware and look for signs and symptoms. The moment you feel something different, something unusual - visit a doctor. If the doctor says everything is fine, take a second opinion. But don't sit and let yourself  suffer till it's too late. Remember there are people who love you, to whom you matter - don't leave them to suffer.

Chapter 5 - Metastasis and stages of cancer

The day, we came to know about papa’s cancer it was already stage iV B - the last stage. He din’t have time! 

Om my very first visit to the hospital, the oncologist said - "Your father has got 9 months or may be less to live. No treatment will work on him . All we can try is to lessen his pain". That is it! and nothing.  Tears rolled down my cheeks. A senior doctor of a high profile CANCER hospital in Delhi was saying this. I felt suffocated. I wanted to say, tell me something that i don’t know but chose to remain quite.  I wiped my tears, got up from the chair and rushed towards the door to get some fresh air, that i desperately needed. 

In my entire life, i never felt so weak and miserable as i felt in those 15minutes  I so hated myself, for not noticing papa's degression. The body was giving hints continuously, but I was never able to pick. Why wasn’t I aware of something like CANCER? Why is there so less awareness about GALL BLADDER CANCER. Why did i have to loose my father to know about cancer?  

I lost my father, but i don’t want any one else to suffer like papa…like me..like my family. In the hope and with the conviction that my efforts will save somebody, if not papa. May be i will attain some peace. I will start  by the ways which cancer spread in the body.

Since papa,  was a GALL BLADDER (Metastatsis) case, therefore all my findings and  research are related to the metastatic stage of cancer

How does CANCER spreads in the body?

Generally, there are 3 ways in which cancer spreads in the body

Tissues : By growing into the  nearby areas

Lymph System : Travels through the lymph vessels to other parts of the body. 

Blood : Travels through the blood vessels to other parts of the body.

And when cancer spreads from its point of origin to other parts of the body, it is known as metastasis.The cancer cells break away from the original (primary) site and travel to the other parts of the body through lymphs and blood.

The metastatic tumor is the same type of cancer as the original  tumor. In papa’s case the primary site ( or the  point of origin) was gallbladder which spread to the liver , pancreas, lungs and finally to the bones. The cancer cells in the liver were  actually the gallbladder cancer cells travelled to liver and to other sites . Therefore it is metastatic gallbladder cancer, and not liver cancer, lung or bone cancer.

It is said that , if detected early. Cancer is curable. I don’t know how true it is. But if it is, one should the know the stages to be aware.

Different Stages of Gall Bladder Metastasis Cancer

Stage 0 (Carcinoma in Situ) : In stage 0, abnormal cells are found in the inner (mucosal) layer of the gallbladder. These abnormal cells may become cancer and spread into nearby normal tissue. Stage 0 is also called carcinoma in situ. 

Stage I : In stage I, cancer has formed and has spread beyond the inner (mucosal) layer to a layer of tissue withblood vessels or to the muscle layer. 

Stage II : In stage II, cancer has spread beyond the muscle layer to the connective tissue around the muscle. 

Stage IIIA : In stage IIIA, cancer has spread through the thin layers of tissue that cover the gallbladder and/or to theliver and/or to one nearby organ (such as the stomach, small intestine, colon, pancreas, or bile ductsoutside the liver). 

Stage IIIB : In stage IIIB, cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes and:beyond the inner layer of the gallbladder to a layer of tissue with blood vessels or to the muscle layer; or beyond the muscle layer to the connective tissue around the muscle; or through the thin layers of tissue that cover the gallbladder and/or to the liver and/or to one nearbyorgan (such as the stomach, small intestine, colon, pancreas, or bile ducts outside the liver). 

Stage IVA:  In stage IVA, cancer has spread to a main blood vessel of the liver or to 2 or more nearby organs or areas other than the liver. Cancer may have spread to nearby lymph nodes. 

Stage IVB : In stage IVB, cancer has spread to either: lymph nodes along large arteries in the abdomen and/or near the lower part of the backbone; or to organs or areas far away from the gallbladder

Papa, in particular showed NO signs of cancer except for that he had lost considerable weight in the past few months. But we thought it was old-age and papa was very particular about of NOT putting on weight. Papa was a very health conscious person and never compromised on his health . Ironically, for years i saw him starting his day with an apple ( What is that famous saying...An apple a day keep the the doctor away). 

A couple of years ago, papa had an operation for enlarged prostate gland. So  papa was regularly visiting this doctor  besides,  papa also had history of urine infection. But look at doctor’s in India- this man  never diagnosed properly…all he gave medicines  for urine infection….that too because papa said so….my question to this doctor is…papa was visiting him for more then a year…when pain was not subsiding...why din’t he suggest to get an ultrasound…X-ray.?

Why din’t he refer papa to some bigger hospital?

I wonder is he actually a doctor?. …Look at the plight of india’s medical system…later..when papa on his own got an X-ray…the X-ray said nothing..everything perfect!

But owing to the continuous pain, and our insistence papa got an colored X-ray…done…it said papa had stones in the gall bladder. Such is our medical case…. LANCE ARMSTRONG, the famous american racing cyclist…in 1996 was given 2 % chances of surviving….cancer had spread to  abdomen, brain and lungs. But he not only survived the cancer, but also went on to to win the Tour de France over and over again….thanks to treatment and the treating doctors.

If only papa would have met the right doctor, got the right treatment timely…he would have been here with me and my  world would have been perfect.

Love you papa!

Chapter 2 - Tests

On 9th December,2012, 9:00am, the doctor visited. The doctor looked at papa’s report. He had this lame expression on his face, which i read as of “frustration. While doing my research I came across this very good article,which said

most of the oncologist are frustrated, because despite of their best effort, the result is always loss”. 

Over the period of 10months, one thing i have become very sure,  cancer  after stage 2, always means death, desperation and frustration, for anyone who is related to cancer by being a patient, or relative of a patient or  the doctor treating the patient.

 “ Patients are frustrated, because of the approaching death

   Relatives are frustrated , because of loosing their loved one”

The doctor, prescribed a series of test

• Biopsy ( Though it was proved, but every hospital does it’s own tests)
• CT (Computed Tomography)Scan
• X-Ray
• MRI
• Endoscopy
• PET CT Scan
• Ultrasound
• Blood Test ( For platelets)- this test was conducted every week for  the next 10 months)

 I hated all the tests, but i hated most was the blood test ,conducted every week.  Having a needle in your arm,  even before the wound created by earlier prick has not healed. Papa never complained and never showed signs of depression. He endured all the pain and hurt with so much courage and hope, that i fail to understand. He hoped that he will walk cancer free soon.

 He tried his best. He had all medicines timely, in the prescribed dosage and in the order as doctor suggested.He tried to maintain his schedule till he exhausted his last bit of energy. He would walk, do his daily chores all by himself, try to eat( despite of  loss of appetite ) and take rest. But he became quite and eventually silent( toward the last few weeks, papa lost his speech). 

I wanted the best for my father( like he always wanted for me). I wanted to be with papa, for papa -like he was there for me. Papa, always wanted me to be by his side. So every time  any tests would take place. I would accompany him(most of the time). That was also my way of maximizing my time with my father.  

Biopsy is a very painful process, as it is done by  pricking your body with needles and getting tissues out to conduct the necessary tests. The tissues are usually collected from 4 to 5 places. In case of cancer patients, the healing process is already very slow. For papa, it took 3 months for the wounds to heal.

The doctor attending papa called me, and explained the schedule of treatment that we will be following. Chemotherapy, tests and results will be reviewed after every 3 months.

Every time i visited the doctor, i had this look on my face  “ please give me some hope”. But the doctors refused to. I wanted papa to have hope, hope that he will be with us forever even when he breaths his last. 

All through, I never told my father, about his condition. Although I am very sure that he was very much aware of his progressing disease. He never expressed, nor i  let my expression betray me ( at least that’s what i think and i want to believe that ). We smiled for each other. I smiled for him and he smiled for me!

Love you papa!

Chapter 2 -Symptoms

People say time is the biggest healer.. I say time heals wounds but scars are left to remind you, what you have been through....

For me loosing my father was not just about loosing a parent. Besides loosing a valuable relationship, i lost a friend. My father,  actually both my parents have given us, siblings the liberty to speak our mind. And say whatever we wanted to.

And,  we could tell our parents anything and everything.

Papa was always a very disciplined and an organized person. He did everything so neatly and perfectly that sometimes i wonder how did he. At times mom would forget about something, but papa was more perfect then  organized. He just knew everything( I think all children think about their parent the way i think).

With him gone, and doing all things by myself makes me feel how hectic it is to be a parent and that too a parent, which i could look forward too. Though its been 10months since papa left , it feel likes it was just yesterday when papa was here with us and doing what he was best at- taking care of his children. He was always there for us.

When the doctor told me, papa has stage 4 cancer, i could not believe my ears- did i  just hear cancer? Is it happening to me? Has time come for papa? Will papa leave in few months. And I said to myself, loud and clear - NO, NEVER. I will challenge and win!( If only i had known, what papa was going through)

I wanted to be alone, i went to the park and set with my tablet in my hand. I typed " Gall Bladder Cancer Symptoms".

The result was :-

• Loss of appetite.
• Losing weight without trying
• Abdominal bloating.
• Abdominal pain, particularly in the upper right portion of the abdomen.
• Itchiness.
• Fever.
• Nausea.
• Yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice)

Now, i could relate to papa's loss of appetite and weight, constant complaint of pain in the abdomen, he being tired. 

It was  Diwali ( 13Nov2012), and i wanted to buy this dining table, i asked my father to accompany me. Papa always loved shopping. It was difficult to match his enthusiasm. And i have inherited the same quality. This store had its dining furniture on 3rd floor. As papa started walking he began to shake, he could not climb and  refused to come upstairs. He waited downstairs. Something was wrong. Papa was moving away from us. And we had no idea.  Had i known it or had the slightest inclination of it being cancerous. May be papa would have been here with me.

White wish!

I don't know what i want to write...but with this blog, i wish to heal and help others to heal who are in pain!

I am not a great writer, dancer, singer, cook or may be i am not good at anything...but what sets me apart from others is the urge to be a good human being...be an asset to this world....do something good for the society.

The name,  "Pause for a Cause", does make you wonder....as what it means... the lifestyle we are leading nowadays has no time for ourselves, parents, friends and kids.

Pause, spend time with those you love and who love you unless it becomes too late.

I don't want to preach nor i wish to pry in your  comfort zone. But i only want to give back what my father taught me.

He always said" if you can't do good, then don't do bad"!

Life is all about experiences, good or bad...you have to decide what to hold on too....and what to let go!

I am choosing to keep the good- TO THE JOURNEY TOWARDS SELF HEALING, in words of buddha

"Because you are alive, everything is possible"