In July 2005, my mom was diagnosed with cc.  She was 74 years
old and actually went to the ER thinking that she was having a
gall bladder attack.  She was jaundiced and so they decided to
keep her in to run tests.  They performed a c-scan, ultra sound
and blood work and decided that she had gall stones.  They could
also see what they thought was a gall stone that was in the bile
duct.  They scoped her to see if they could unblock the duct and
at that time found that it was a tumor.  They biopsied it and
then later confirmed that it was cc. They then wanted to go in
and remove the tumor and they were planning on doing the
"Whipple" and when they got in  they could not do anything but
take out the gall bladder that was completely filled with cancer
and then close her up.  They said that the cancer was
metastasized (?) to the main artery and that nothing could be
done.  My mom opted to not go with any radiation or chemo.  They
originally gave her 6-12 months to live and she died January 7,
2006 in her sleep. A v