Support And Advice

Hi,

My father in law has just been diagnosed with EC, PET scan showed two small spots on his lung, one small spot on a rib.  Dr is not sure if they are cancer and did appear to be too concerned with those. Cancer in the Esophagus started at the lower portion and has spread upward. Dr. wants to start chemo and radiation and told him yesterday to see a surgeon right away. The surgery sound just awful. My father in law has just turned 70 has already lost about 15 lbs. he had by pass surgery about 5 years ago. Has not smoked in over 30+ years. He does have defibulator in his chest to regulate heart beat. We love him dearly and want to do all we can to help and be supportive. Although he has remarried he lost his first wife to colon cancer. So this is very hard on my husband and his siblings. I found this site this morning and just want to say I will pray for all of you. Rick if you read this know that you especially touched me. Let me hear from you. We live in Virginia, they say it is very important to find an experienced surgeon.  Wishing all of you the very best . cjmitch

Welcome to the board.  So sorry to hear about your FIL.  It is a tough cancer, but dont let the stats on the internet get you down.  Treatments are getting better all the time. 

If he is having a hard time getting in enough calories and they think they are going to do surgery, he should talk to them about putting in a g-tube.  He will be able to take meds, fluid and nutrition through it. It was a life saver for my mom.  She has now worked her way off from it, and is taking everything orally, but with out it she woud have died.  They are leaving it in place until they decide on the surgery, as she would need it after the surgery anyway, so no sense in messing with it right now. They were able to put in her chemo port and feeding tube during the same surgery so they only had to knock her out once (the tube and port are not in the same place, but it saved them from putting her under twice).

 Hang in there and please keep us posted !

Thank you so much for the advice re the g tube, when is your mom's surgery scheduled for? I will keep you in my thoughts. My FIL is having some trouble swallowing, but so far he is still able to eat. I am amazed at some of the things he can eat some that he can't. He told me the other day he went to Subway. So I thought that was great. Will keep on praying. Thanks again

Janet

My husband refused the g tube.  He was able to eat chicken croquettes, eggplant rollantini, scranbled eggs, and other soft items as long as it wasn't red meats.  He ate small portions throughout the day.  Drank malteds and thank goodness never needed the port.  Unfortunately surgery is not an option for him, but the chemo & radiation shrank the tumors enough do that now he eats anything and everything.  As long as they can eat let it go orally.  Much more satisfying for them. 

At this point mom is not scheduled for surgery.  They are not sure at this time if she is a canidate for it or not. On the PET scan they could see a spot on one lung. They said it was a "lesion". They are unsure if it is esoph. cancer that has mets., lung cancer or something else.  They wanted to see how it reacted to the chemo., rather then subjecting her to a biopsy.  The chemo oncologist told her that they will probably do more rounds of chemo to try to get it into remission.

At this point we are just happy that they have bought her some time and given her back quality of life.  We know it could be short term and we'll probably have to deal with this monster again. I don't think my mom realizes how high that likelyhood is, but I think she is able to stay more positive not knowing, and it woudnt really make a difference at this point.

Did your mom receive any irradiation??  The chances of chemo by itself putting these cancers in remission is less than ten percent.  The standard of care is chemo radiation and surgery if possible.  The spot on the lung, if the SUV on the PET is high enough can be treated as well if it is the only "possible" metastasis.

Yes, she had 4 1/2 weeks (22) radiation treatments. They started them the chemo and rad the same day.  What is "SUV"?

SUV is just a measurement of how strongly the glucose is taken up on the PET, the higher the number the more likely it is cancer.  It also gives some idea of whether it is fast or slow growing.

Just wanted to say hello and to say that I also lived in va until 2 weeks ago. If you live near charlottesville and can get to uva med center, I would take the trip if only for second opinion.  My father was dianosed with ec about 1 month ago with metastases.  It is taking the drs soooooooooooo long to get his treatments started.  I will add you in my prayers and look for updates on the message board.   God Bless and keep your head up

p

Regarding your FIL weight loss, my father has also lost 15 lbs in the last two months.  His GI doctor told him to supplement his food intake with 5-6 cans of Boost Plus (350 calories each).  My dad has been doing that for about one week now and has gained back about 5 lbs.  We are so relieved.  You may want to look into this for your FIL if he doesn't have any issues like diabetes that would preclude taking in that much sugar.  I think they are fairly high in sugar but not sure.

My dad goes to his oncologist tomorrow to have his PET scan read.  Say prayers for him!!

 

Debby