Just Diagnosed - Treatment Questions!

Hello all,

This is my first post, but I have been reading for about a week since my dad's nightmare with esopageal cancer began. 

He was diagnosed last week after a cough and trouble swallowing didn't get better (the Dr. thought his allergies were getting worse).  He is stage IV, with mets to the stomach and liver.  He still feels okay, eats fairly well and for the most part has a positive attitude.

He is having a feeding tube put in Tuesday and should start chemo by the end of the week.  The oncologist is going to start him on a 3 week cycle of Oxaliplatin by iv and Capecitabine orally.  Is anyone familiar with these two drugs, their effectiveness, and their most common side effects?  The Dr. told my dad not to expect to be sick which surprised us all.

Any suggestions on what to do for people you love who have been diagnosed to help keep their spirits up?  Our family has gone from all is well to oh my God in a matter of a week and we are struggling with wanting to "do something" for dad and mom without suffocating them as they come to terms with this.

 Any advice and words of wisdom are much appreciated.

Thank you!

I'm so sorry to hear about your dad.  I remember being on autopilot for awhile after hearing my dad had Parkinson's and that it was hereditary.  Until he went on the compound I'm going to tell you about, he kept going downhill toward being an invalid.  Fortunately we found out about pycnogenol in time and stopped the descent.  And it's the main ingredient in a cancer cocktail too.  I've written about it in a different forum so in the Search box, type in 

pycnogenol

and read about it, ok?

jamac80

Sorry, type in

pycnogenol+cocktail

and it will go to the whole discussion line of Erica1976's grandmother's lung cancer.  You'll have to scroll down to get to the part about pycnogenol.

jamac80 

Thank you!

I have read it and have it printed so that I can bring it to the appt next week and ask about it. 

I truly appreciate the information.