Our online forum at CancerCompass.com offers helpful information and resources for cancer patients. Join now to research treatment options, compare stories, and more. http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/cancers/esophageal-cancer/1,0,119,19.htm Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ Looking for food options and ideas, my mum is only two months post surgery, and has kind of had to do things backwards, she had to have surgery first and will have to most likely have chemotherapy once she has recovered from the surgeries. After the esophageal surgery while in the hospital she go a bacterial infection that was sitting in a narrowed valve in her heart, so less than two weeks after the first surgery she had to have a valve replacement surgery. She has not had a feeding tube with the exception of an NG tube for a few days in hospital. She is just having some concerns because she has lost so much weight probably 80lbs, and she knows there is more to come. so any advice and tips or ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thanks http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,71883,0.htm Justkeepswimmin Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT I am new to this board. Can anyone with Stage IV esophageal cancer share their successes with treatments, either conventional or alternative.  Thanks Annie http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,71802,0.htm callerid Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT I would like to know if anyone has tried Cellquest?  My father, 63, was diagnosed last week with Esophegeal stage 4 spots on his liver, no surgery. He has an appointment at Mayo next Wednesday. I have researched complimentary methods too.  Still at the "I can't believe this is happening" stage. He's so good to the family and to think about his not being around is unimaginable and just wrenches the heart. The children love him so much, we all do. My mother is devistated but remaining hopeful to make it to their 45th Wedding anniverary in 3 years and then their 50th.  It's so hard, a nightmare as you all know. I did order Cellquest and have him drinking it. I also have checked into the mederi foundation with Donny Yance. I understand he has quite a comprehensive program. If anyone has any thoughts or outcomes of Cellquest and other complimentary methods, they are greatly welcomed.  http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,66001,0.htm kjfaithhope Fri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT After having a total esophagectomy, chemo and radiation, I had clean scans for 4 years with no problems. I am 51 years old and healthy otherwise.  I had a routine scan in March and they discovered cancer in 13 lymph nodes around the windpipe and collarbone - neck area. It is not in any organs. They are offering chemo right now.  Anyone experience anything similiar. http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,71816,0.htm robert450 Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT My husband had EC Surgery April 19th. He did so good in hospital, but since he has been home, he does not eat much and the past few days, he started dry heaving. If he sees food, he starts dry heaving, if he smells it, he starts dry heaving, even if you mention food he will start dry heaving. Any suggestions or same past experiences with help to stop him from dry heaving so he can eat? Thanks, Lorie http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,71729,0.htm chrisandlorie Mon, 13 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT Hello all... I am wanting to know what to expect after my husband has surgery. He is Stage I and the doctors are wanting to remove his esophagus (Could Be partial) and the top of his stomach. He will have a peg port in his stomache to prevent him from losing too much weight. Him being the love of my life, I want to make sure that I take care of him completely and compassionately with only the best care. I want him to heal and have the best care as possible. Could someone please tell me what to expect, what to do and not do. and how to keep his morale up and encourage him; as well as how to clean his peg port (J-Port). We go in next Wednesday to schedule his surgery. We really don't know what to expect or what questions we should even ask. I also would like to know how long he will have to sleep elevated and when it will be okay to take him fishing. http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,71176,0.htm chrisandlorie Thu, 04 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT My father ( 85 Years )  , after 4 month of Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia) , Weight loss , Fatigue , Frequent choking while eating and  Coughing or hoarseness he accept visit the clinic and  diagnosed as Esophageal Cancer , today he keep choking while eating and looking like dying , the doctor  suggest open hole in his pharynx ,but  he comment : my father will lose talk :( any one with experience ? http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,71722,0.htm Bosaleh Sun, 12 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT I am trying to stay above the panic. My husband just found out that he has EC, and today he got the news from his pet scan that he has 2 small spots on his liver that will require a biopsy. He seems to be in great health, has gained weight over the past couple of months....lots of energy, I am so scared.   http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,71755,0.htm luluz1953 Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT Is there anyone who has had stage IV esophageal cancer and had the surgery to remove the esophagus and resection. If so could you please mention the city, the hospital and the doctor(s)We live in Boston and go to MGH hospital. My husband's cancer had spread to his liver, but the tumors there have shrunk 20% so far. The tumor in the distal area (next to the connection to the stomach) has grown extensively in the past four weeks thus, creating an  inability to eat. A metal stent was inserted a week ago and has enabled him to eat, but the motility in the stomach has become a major problem. The stomach muscles are not working efficiently and he has been given reglan and baclofin.to induce more muscular contractions.If anyone has any suggestions or comments, it would be appreciated.Thanks!Twokatzeyez http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,38647,0.htm twokatzeyez Sun, 02 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT Hi everyone I wanted you all to know that with prayer and faith in the lord there is hope. Michael received the results from his scan yesterday and it was negative. The doctor didnt have much to say, he ask how Michael was feeling, and finally said  "well I guess we will move you from 3 month scans to 6 month scans" He then told him if anything should start feeling different call he asap. So for now he gets 6 months more of "quality life" with the lords mercy. Our prayer is his next PET scan the postive cells wil be gone as well.  On May 29th it will be the one year mark that they didnt remove his esophagus and gave him 6mo to a year to live. It appears our lord Jesus has other plans :) We will keep praying for everyone. MY POST FROM 2/6: Hi my name is Angel and my husband was diagnosed February (2012) with stage 3 EC. Well his treatment plan was chemo & radiation then remove his esophagus. He went through treatment and went in for surgery last May. The surgeon found a 1 millimeter lymph node on the bottom back side of his stomach that he removed while he was on the table and found it was all cancer so he closed him up without taking out his esophagus because he said he is now stage 4 and said that he was sorry, then he was gone :( At that point they gave him 6 months to a year to live.  Well 6 weeks later he had a PET and it was clear. 3 weeks ago he had another PET & it showed activity so 2 weeks ago they did a scope and biopsied him. The results were it is agian cancer in the inner wall in the same place where the large tumor was that they radiated the first time. Well his oncologist is telling us there is no cure and no need for treatment at this time that it should just be managed and that he should concentrate on quality of life at this time. http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,71666,0.htm ayoung Wed, 08 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT Hi, My dad has just finished 4 cycles of chemo, although he still has another week of the oral chemo Capecitabine, he had Cisplatin iv, hes 75 and was pretty fit and healthy before this nightmare started! hes lost over 3 stone in weight, and what really worries me is how breathless he is, is this a normal side effect? he wasnt like this at the beginnning of his treatment. He has another CT scan tomorrow to see what the next course of action is. Thank you for reading alli http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,71643,0.htm alli66 Tue, 07 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT My husband is currently undergoing chemo/radiation for EC that they think is a 2 or 3. He has 10 coronary stents, and they keep saying he may not be able to have the surgery. We are only half through the treatment. Has anyone been told "no" to the surgery? If you can't have it, how long can one live with only the chemo/radiation (which we are told can only be done once)? http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,71636,0.htm ferry Mon, 06 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT I had my esophagectomy on Jan 08 and four months after surgery I developed hypoglycemia which appears that nobody (Doctors) knows how to treat or cure it. I am trying to find anyone who has developed this problem since surgery. Thanks in advance. Phil A http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,41423,0.htm Phil_A Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT Just thought I would post some good news - Jim's scans today came back clear! He will be 4 years post surgery this summer (stage 3).  It's amazing how stress free the visit to the doctor is when they give you GREAT news! Take care eveyone! http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,71592,0.htm Joanne54 Wed, 01 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT Father in law now 5 months after diagnosis of terminal eusophagal cancer, sleeping and dozing about 20 hours a day, but still managing to be mobile for very short periods, although I feel this is pure guts and determination that carries him thru x eats very little weatabix , jelly and ice cream, soup but energy levels very low but thru all this he is still happy with his lot, we don't think we have much time left but he's taken on this cancer and we are so proud of him, the cancer won't kill him he says its the fighting it that will take his life buts that's acceptable to him as an ex military man he says he is fighting for his freedom from the cancer , such a proud man xxx http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,71539,0.htm Sue1956 Sun, 28 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT In August 2012, my husband had 6 wks of radiation and chemo for esophageal cancer. Then 6 wks later, he under went the Ivor-lewis prceedure and had 2/3 of his esophagus and 2/3 of his stomach removed. They also removed 23 lymph nodes that were negative for cancer. The surgery was rough, but he has been doing OK. Last week he had routine labs and CT scan for a cancer check-up, and then a PET scan, which showed a tumor in the liver. The doctors were surprised. Now my husband is going to start a new regime of chemo that will be every-other week indefinitately. Has anyone out there undergoing this and what is your quality of life during this chemo? How long can you bei on this? I was told "years". http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,71182,0.htm kathyj13 Thu, 04 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT hi, my dad has been diagnoised with Esophagel cancer in the 4th stage.  want to find out what will happen and what can we do to help.  he is at home with us.  will this have any effect on kids (aged 5 & 10yrs).  he has been coughing continuously and cough syrups dont seem to be of any help.  thx, http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,65016,0.htm gollywog Tue, 13 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT I have a stage-1 T3 adnocarcinoma tumor EC. I have just completed 5 weeks of lose dose Chemo/hi-dose radiation and I am dealing with the after affects of the hi-dose radiation. The inflamation is little more intense in the stomach spincter muscle area and making it very difficult to keep food down or swallow and I am only doing green/fruit protein fortified smoothies or soft foods like cream of wheat, poached eggs, ice cream. I cough allot ater a meal and I am constantly spitting up phlem with anything I eat or drink including water. I try to keep all intake to warm or room temp to minimize vomitting and phlem but it doesn't always work. Can anyone tell me how long this goes on as I need to gain back some weight before surgery in about 6 weeks. It has been explained to me that I will have 2-3 incisions wth a 8-10 hour surgery, feeding tube, and 10-14 day hospital stay following the surgery. I just want ot be back in shape for that time. I kayak and bike but I need the energy to do that and the green smoothies do that coupled with vitamins, green tea, raw honey, as long as I can keep them down. I just noticed that as soon as the treatments stopped which was yesterday, the swalloing part got tougher. I know its early to ask but I am trying to get a grip on the time I have to bulk back up.Thanks for your input. http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,71415,0.htm CaptKallisto Sun, 21 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT Does anyone else suffer or has suffered from this feeling? My husband had his EC surgery 13weeks ago, but keeps complaining about a feeling of having a lump in his throat. This he says makes eating difficult, if anyone has this problem is there anything I can do to help eleviate this , so my husband can eat more comfortably, I would be grateful for any advice. http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,71621,0.htm Denhux Sat, 04 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT My husband is 58 and was diagnosed with esophageal cancer recently and is receiving chemo/radiation right now. The possiblity of surgery has been discussed and would depend on what the PET scan shows at the end of the chemo/radiation. I have begun to read all the extremely frightening accounts of the surgery. It is all so overwhelming. I don't really understand the statistics as to how much the surgery can improve chances of living and the mortality from the surgery etc. We do have a good hospital and doctors, but I find it is still impossible to get that much real information about the surgery other than acknowledging how dangerous and painful etc. it is. How much can it actually extend life and at what quality? http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,71608,0.htm ferry Fri, 03 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT I have been doing some research on esophageal cancer and Viet Nam vets. Since adenocarcinoma is on the rise at an alarming rate among men in the 50 and over age group, I thought there might be some connection to the Viet Nam agent orange problem. If you go to Google, and type in agent orange and esophageal cancer, there are lots of sites with info. My husband is a Viet Nam vet, was there in 1968 and 1969, and there have been many cases traced back to those dates. I just thought this might be helpful to anyone who has a loved one who is a Viet Nam or other war vet, to be sure they get checked out, and maybe save some lives, since it usually gets to stage 3 or 4 before it is found. It seems that the Veterans Association and the US gov't has finally admitted a connection, but it took many years and many battles in the courts to prove it. It makes me so angry that the U.S. Gov't can treat their Veterans this way. If this post can help just ONE person, I will be worth the possible criticism I might get for posting this. http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,15115,0.htm caregivercher Wed, 08 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT My father, Harry, 66, diagnosed in Jan 2009 with Esophageal Adenocarcinoma.  T3 N1 M0 .  Chemo and Radiation Therapy prior to Surgery.  Six weeks after last radiation treatment, had laparoscopic esophagectomy on May 4, 2009.  Surgery went well with no hiccups.  Four days out of surgery developed pneumonia, and feeding tube became dislodged.  At site of feeding tube cellulitis infection with MRSA bacteria was diagnosed.  This became a very serious condition.  White blood count dropped from 8 to 0.8 overnight.  Now, 14 days from surgery and 10 days from the double infections, he is walking and getting around. Whilte blood count up to 5.2 and stable. Pneumonia cleared up no problem.  Cellulitis infection was a big problem.  He has a 4 inch gaping hole in his left side at the site of the feeding tube.  He is having plastic surgery to remove dead tissue at this site on tuesday, day 15 from original surgery.   Hopefully this will be it and they will insert a vac sponge to have the wound heal from inside out.  The whole ordeal has been way more than any of us anticipated.  The feeding tube debacle(no blame is being placed here as we can't say if he pulled it out or how it became dislodged and we're not angry at the facilities for this.  While at the center I did see many people who had no complications.  My dad had some bad luck, but is alive to tell the story.  Because of the size of his tumor, surgery was really the only viable option to be sure the cancer was gone so i do not feel that we made the wrong decision as i'd like to try to keep him around for as long as possible.If anyone wants more info, just post a reply or do a private reply if you'd like to email me directly. Cary Wallace http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,36271,0.htm carythesaddler Mon, 18 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT Hello my husband had surgery to remove his esophagus he had it done on wednesday and they tried to take the breathing tube out thursday and they had to put it back in because he was having to much trouble now he has a fever of 103 and bp is low heart rate is high 135 and now they put him on a kidney dialysis machine he has acid in his blood his kidneys were shutting down he has an infection somewhere any help from someone who had this surgery please????I need some information has anyone heard of this happening? Kathy http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,71532,0.htm kathyrembis Sat, 27 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT Hi, all I am now almost a week from my last chemo XRT and I am sufferring through consistent reflux every night. I am being awaken in the middle of the night usually 3-4 hours after falling asleep with the boiling sensation of relux. I am taking a script of Omeprazole which has not stopped the reflux, although I can tell you that I had to stop taking most of my meds for a few days due to the fact that they were causing regurgitation. I am a Type 2 Diabetic who is not taking my normal Metformin or blood pressure due to the reflux issue...but I am taking my insulin. I was prescribed a short term insulin Novlog to add to my long term Lantis to aid in this transition. This works great for me. I can tell you that due to my 25# weight lost, My fasting blood sugars are averaging less than 100 and my BP averages 99/60 with a higher heart 90 heart rate. Now I ma not telling you to do this I had to to lower my incidents of reflux. I just spoke to my oncologist who increased my Omeprozale dosage and added some OTC Maalox to help control the issue, I will post later and let you know if this helps. I can tell you personally that I am awaken around 4 am every night with the boiling sencsation of reflux. I get up, cough for a while (which BTW I also start to cough and spit allot with too much conversation or too cold a drink). Anyway I have found that if I get up and walk after the reflux incident and drink an entire bottle of water during this time that it helps relieve the pain and make it go away. I also mix this water with Aloe juice to help sooth my "internal sunburn". I am eating better than the first few day past treatment but I am making sure I dont eat anything but lightly spiced and add Tumeric (bright yellow the best) and /or extra virgin Olive oil suggested by  my oncology nutritionalist to help reduce the inlfamation in my body. I add it to my scrambled poached eggs, creamy Orzo vege pasta dish, grits, etc. Now know that I am a retired chef and major foodie so I experiment with my food to make it palatable and tasty, more so now than before. Another little jewel that my Nutritionist gave me that is very pleasing and satifying to sip on most of the day is Peach Nectar..not pear, apple or apricot, the peach flavor seems to be the most soothing. I get Kern's Peach nectar in the can and I also bought bent straws to limit my intake to a little at a time and keep from seeing it again. If nothing else appeals to me for a meal I drink LifeWay Blueberry Kefir. This is a smooth liquid yogurt loaded with probiotics which is helps fill your belly and gives you the boost of probies. If the taste is oo yogurty (sour) for you blend more fruit into it like frozen berries. I will keep you posted as the days go by . My follow up PETSCAN is scheduled for 5/28 before surgery in June. Also before I forget typically you have to sleep upright after surgey to ward off reflux after the change I can tell you that I am doing this now to help retard the reflux and in my case it doesn't work prone or upright. I fall asleep in my recliner to keep me upright when not in bed and the reflux still happens. My Dr tells me this gets worst before it gets better and I am a believer!.. Enough said for today..Hope this helps everybody. http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,71516,0.htm CaptKallisto Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT I have had my stomach removed as well as the malignant tumour in the oesphagus,however i have now the following symptoms:- 1 Sick taste in the mouth every morning. 2 My wound has still not healed a small hole is still there with blood inside . I am being treated daily by the Medical centre. 3 I feel prtty weak and it's an effort to walk in the shopping centre. 4 My eating is very sparse small amounts of food. 5 I may have to go back on Chemo as it is a prereqiste after the operation is it worthwhile? Is anybody experiancing the same problems? Cheers Yanos http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,71525,0.htm yanos Sat, 27 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT