Babette8

Hi -- I'm new to this group. My mother was just diagnosed with a Klatskin tumor, and had a stent put in last week. Her GI doctor indicated to me (when my mother was in recovery after the first of the three procedures it took to get the stent in) that he did not believe that the tumor was resectable. My mother is mentally sharp and otherwise in fairly good health, but she is 85 and has said that she would not be interested in doing any chemotherapy or any palliative treatment that would be very painful to initiate or have horrible side effects. My sister died of metastatic colon cancer last August, and the purportedly palliative intervention that was done a month before her death sent her into a whole new dimension of pain, so my mother (and I) are wary of palliative promises.

I've done some web research into non-chemo treatments, and the one that seemed the easiest on the patient while still giving some good results was photodynamic therapy. Has anyone had any experience with this (yourself or a loved one)? Any information will be much appreciated, as we see the GI guy for follow-up this Tuesday, and will then be seeing an oncologist.

Thanks --

Babette