The consultant gastroenterologist asked me to clerk a patient with metastatic liver cancer and I'm supposed to present the case during the morning meeting tomorrow.
Based on the history, I guess the primary site of malignancy is the colon. Which means he's probably having colorectal cancer which had metastasized to the liver. When this happens, the treatment is almost always palliative. The prognosis is bad. Textbooks say these patients don't survive more than 6 months.
The liver ultrasound scan revealed bull eye's sign. When I palpated his huge liver, I could feel a nodular surface. These are suggestive of secondary spread.
I sympathize with the family members. I really do. I don't think they know the gravity of the situation yet. I don't think they get me when I'm asking them about other symptoms of spread to other organs which don't seem to be associated to his chief complaint. However, I'm not in the position to tell them the truth.
I'll try my best to present tomorrow and may you be strong, uncle.
They'll know soon enough. Hope he'll be as comfortable as possible.
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