Recent Posts

ooh! ooh! ME! ME!
well my wife actually.

Our IPHC story

In Oct of 07 my wife, Michelle, was diagnosed with Colon Cancer and had to have the tumor removed because it was blocking her colon. After the surgery, we were told that the cancer had spread to her peritoneal lining and that there was no hope.... Michelle was 35

Thanks to the providence of God, we found out about IPHC. We actually met with Dr. Levine from Wake Forest and had a game plan before we had met our local oncologist.

I will never forget the day I found out that there was hope. We had been told by the staff oncologist in the hospital, and called the "top 10 cancer treatment centers" and was told the same thing, "there is nothing that can be done to save her life". We had an appointment at Wake Forest but we only knew that they were doing some promising work with this kind of cancer. I was in the bank and my cousin called and told me that she had been researching Dr. Levine on the internet and had watched a video of the surgery that he provides... AND... "there are long term survivors." Well, I broke down and cried right there in the lobby of the bank! I didn't care what people thought... I had hope! Hope that the love of my life would/could spend more TIME with me, HOPE that our 3 and 7 year old daughters would not only remember their mommy but hope that she would be with them as they grow up.

That hope proved to be well founded because Michelle had IPHC on June 9th of 08 and we are now being told that she has a 64% five year outlook! So excuse me if I seem a little fanatical.... I want to shout it from the roof tops, THERE IS HOPE!!!

I couldn't tell you how many postings I have made on the internet and I intend to keep on posting our story because sometimes God gives me the joy of being able to tell someone that there is hope.

Our complete story

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/michellelanham

Thank you, Larry

Unfortunately we've had some folks posting inappropriate content recently.  So we'll have to approve all new members. So if you have a suspect looking email address from Russia or China, you may want to get a more believable one from gmail.
If your membership is still not approved, you may just want to send a note to the admin introducing yourself and assuring the admin that you're not gonna post advertisements.

Surgery Plus Intraoperative Peritoneal Hyperthermic Chemotherapy (IPHC) to Treat Peritoneal Carcinomatosis
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00454519?spons=%22Wuhan+University%22&spons_ex=Y&rank=1

Recently (Friday of this past week) my mother was informed by her insurance provider, Humana, that they have denied coverage for the hyperthermic chemotherapy surgery due to "insufficient scientific evidence demonstrated with improved outcomes..." and the surgery has been "determined to be not medically necessary for her condition..." My mother was diagnosed with appendix cancer - signet ring in January. She has had 6 months of chemo and is now ready for the IHPC. I have reached out to her doctor and am awaiting guidance. In the meantime, I wanted to reach out to the group to see if anyone else has had a similar experience and how it was handled. In other words, how did you get your insurance company to approve payment?

Thank you.
 

 

I am going to have HIPEC for colon cancer. I would love to talk with anyone who has been through it!
(I will be going to Drs. Ahrendt and Barlett in Pittsburgh - they have done 80 procedures.)

Make sure it is ovarian cancer....I was misdiagnosed with ovarian cancer Stage 4 while living overseas in Europe and had a radical hysterectomy along with debulking and 1 round of chemotherapy for ovarian.  I got a second opinion (by sending tissue samples from my hysterectomy) from M.D. Anderson Cancer center in Houston, Texas and was rediagnosed with Appendicial mucinous adnocarcinoma.  Dr. Paul Mansfield did another surgery including removal of 10 inches of colon, appendix, spleen, gall bladder, peritinium, lining of diaphram ....then I had the intrathermal chemo for GI tract .....It was not easy, but it was not overwhelming either....get that second opinion if you still have an appendix.
best of luck.
ToughStuff

Thank you so much, Sharon!! Would you kindly share any information you could with me about this procedure?

Mimi

CANCER is a peer-reviewed publication of the American Cancer Society
Published Online:  12 May 2008
Cytoreductive surgery (peritonectomy procedures) combined with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) in the treatment of diffuse peritoneal carcinomatosis from ovarian cancer.
Department of Surgery Pietro Valdoni, University of Rome La Sapienza, Azienda Polyclinic Umberto I, Rome, Italy.

CONCLUSIONS.: Peritonectomy procedures combined with HIPEC offer promising long-term survival in patients with diffuse peritoneal ovarian carcinomatosis. They achieve high adequate primary and secondary surgical cytoreduction rates with acceptable morbidity and mortality. Cancer 2008.

http://tinyurl.com/5ellml

Can anyone out there advise me as to what doctor or which center does hyperthermia internally?