Liver Cancer

Man and woman walking outside in an autumn forest. Close-up of a tumour on the man's liver.


The liver is the organ above your stomach that is a size of a football. Like any other vital organs in the body, one cannot function normally without a healthy strong liver. What are the risks?

 The liver filters almost 500mLs of blood at any point in time, removing toxins, alchohol and any harmful substances in our blood stream. The liver also produces chemicals to break down food in the stomach such as fats to be easily digested.

Interesting Fact:
The liver can repair itself - it can funciton with only a small part of it and grow back into full size within 6 to 8 weeks.

There are may diseases that may affect the liver but I'd like to concentrate on Liver Cancer. There are two types of liver cancer - Primary and Secondary. Primary liver cancer develops in the liver. Cancer cells then replace healthy liver cells hence suppressing the function of each cell in the liver.
Secondary Liver cancer is caused by cancer cells in other parts of the body being transported to the liver and build up.

My brother was diagnosed early this year with Liver Cancer. In Papua New Guinea, there is nothing much the hospital can do. There is no treatment, even if there is, it is very slow. He had to wait weeks for test results and lab tests to finally be diagnosed.

By the time doctors have confirmed that it was cancer, there was very little they can do to help the patient but to "wait for the patient to heal itself". My brother lost a ton of weight and shrunk beyond recognition. How could this healthy young man in his mid 20s, just at the starting line of his life be at this stage.

The last resort was to have him refered back to our home province to be taken care of by relatives. Cancer is a disease that puts patients in pain all day every day. My heart sank when I said goodbye at the airport. He did not say anything, he was too weak to speak or show emotions.

I felt hopless and wondered why there was nothing the hospitals here cannot do or further refer him to at least give a chance to imporve his health.

Was it the right decision to send him back home to be with our family? Would he have had a chance for further medical treatment here?

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