Esophageal Cancer & Faith In Jesus!!

My  husband is 69----and in November of 2007, he was starting to cough a little more than normal--we both thought it was a virus. I brought him to the V.A. and was told that it was nothing. As the time went on--he got worse and once again I brought him tothe VA Emergency Room to be told very rudely that I had wasted their time---he was fine. He now could hold down nothing --not even liquids. I finally opted to go to our area Drs. we had had years before. After several trips for scans and blood work and other tests--it was determined he had Esophaeal Cancer. Since Dec. 2007--he has lost 100lbs---he has had a tough road---only able to be fed by tube.  He has had 2 weeks of radiation and his second round of chemo---he is now in a rehab center and last night for the first time he was able to eat egg salad and mashed potatos and gravy. This may sound very small---however to me it is very huge.

 

My problem is keeping his spirits up and believing that Jesus us curing him. He is so negative and I do not know what to do. He has had days that he is so angry at me (I know it is at the disease) and I get so upset. I pray every day for his recovery and I know Jesus is answering my prayers.

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks

Judy E.

My Dad is 68 and found that he has Stage III EC and thru is lymp node track.  He lost a lot of weight also.  He went thru 7 weeks of radiation along with 7 weeks on a chemo pump which he had 24 hours a day.  He now just started his 2nd round of chemo. My father had a 13 hour surgery to remove the tumor, lymp nodes and had his stomach pulled up. 

It's so hard to watch a loved one go through all of this.  It hurts, but never give up hope.   My father does get angry and seems to take it out on the family, but we all have to remember that he doesn't mean it.  My father doesn't come right out and tell us how he feels, which is hard, but, the way he looks at me at times, I can tell he is scared.  There are also times when he is so sick, that he tells me he can't take it anymore.  There was one point when I questioned God, but then realized that God has to be with my father guiding him through this fight.  Stay strong, as hard as that may be and remember there are others in the same shoes as you who really understand.  I will keep you and yours in my prayers.  Lori  

My Dad has been diagnosed with stomach and esophageal cancer.The surgeons that we have talked to so far are saying that they can help him.We should be doing our last test tomorrow and then they will be scheduling surgery.It's already taken them 2 months to get this far and we pretty knew a month ago that they are going to remove his stomach and work on his esoph .

I am wanting to try to talk with the surgeons alone without my dad being present to make sure what they are saying is true.

My question how can tell if what they are saying is true or if the surgeons are just wanting to use him as a guinea pig.By reading some of these posts it makes me wonder if we are doing the right thing by putting him through so much pain and whether or not he can handle it or not.I know it may sound as though i am being cruel in asking this question but i know that it is going to be so terribly hard to see my dad in such a shape.I don't what i am thinking actually,i guess i am just searching for answers that may not be there,or maybe some reassurance where there may not be any.I just don't know.

Really sorry about your Dad. To be honest, I don't think surgeons use esophageal patients as guinea pigs. It's a very rough surgery and they frequently can't do it at all, and don't seem to hesitate to make that decision, so if they are offering him that option then I would imagine he is a viable candidate. There are protocols for the treatments and surgeries which you need to fit into. It's still a huge decision, and you want someone who has experience doing many of them. I would guess a lot of it depends on how badly your Dad wants to fight it-we all have varying views on death and dying-and ultimately death is one of the few things we all have in common. At some point we have to let go of the body. Perhaps you couls call the surgeon and get some reassurance about any questions you have. Part of there job is to inform the patient and family, but I think people want to know varying amounts about their procedures.  My husband didn't want to know anything about the procedures, but I wanted to understand how it all works to know what I was facing for care issues, etc. Best of luck with all of it. I will keep you in my prayers.

I have to agree with TongrenHealer's response to your post. A while back she advised me to try emailing the doctor with my questions. Of course the doctor had to get my dad's permission to respond which he gladly agreed to. My dad doesn't ask a lot of questions and I have to think that it's because he's not ready to hear the answers yet. On the other hand, I HAVE to have all the facts. So, things worked out for us and I continue to use email when I feel that it's necessary.

Just a side note-I was not trying to keep anything from my parents but I truly felt that they weren't ready for the answers because they had not asked. It was such a shock to us all I was afraid my dad would give up. I put that in my email. I think it helped the doctor understand my dad and so far, she waits for him to question her before she throws out specifics about mortality, etc.My dad now asks many of the questions I want to ask so things have worked out.

Good luck and I will keep you and your dad in my prayers. 

 

George's Girl-Glad to hear that worked out for you with asking what you needed to know about with your Dad. I think just the process of getting through the treatment is so big that anything else can be overload. Just taking it one moment at a time is all they can handle. I think you're right too about it helping the Dr. understand how to handle them and how much info they can take because we are the day to day caregivers and have a much deeper insight into what the patient is really like.  Good communication helps everyone do their job better, and the patient ends up with the best care, without taking on too many of the worries.  I've wondered about you a lot lately and how your Dad is doing?  You are a good daughter! You're parents are blessed to have you keeping an eye on them.  Is everything going along okay?

 

On 3/20/2008 PS23312 wrote:

My  husband is 69----and in November of 2007, he was starting to cough a little more than normal--we both thought it was a virus. I brought him to the V.A. and was told that it was nothing. As the time went on--he got worse and once again I brought him tothe VA Emergency Room to be told very rudely that I had wasted their time---he was fine. He now could hold down nothing --not even liquids. I finally opted to go to our area Drs. we had had years before. After several trips for scans and blood work and other tests--it was determined he had Esophaeal Cancer. Since Dec. 2007--he has lost 100lbs---he has had a tough road---only able to be fed by tube.  He has had 2 weeks of radiation and his second round of chemo---he is now in a rehab center and last night for the first time he was able to eat egg salad and mashed potatos and gravy. This may sound very small---however to me it is very huge.

 

My problem is keeping his spirits up and believing that Jesus us curing him. He is so negative and I do not know what to do. He has had days that he is so angry at me (I know it is at the disease) and I get so upset. I pray every day for his recovery and I know Jesus is answering my prayers.

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks

Judy E.

Judy, this reply is a few days so I hope you get this message. I have been on the PC message board. My husband was diagnosed  stage IV last year, keep praying, get everyone you know to pray! My husband had his last chemo Jan. 16. He is working, having fun. Still gets extemely tired, but the prayer works.

The reason I am on this board is I have a few questions about EC.

To anyone who wants to respond,

I have been diagnosed with Gerd, and even tho it is minor now the test said- I have problems. i certainly want to nip this in the bud.

What advise do any of you have that i can use to do this. And what symptoms did your husband and father have?

I just came to this board today so I haven't read much yer.

I had no idea it was this serious a cancer-all cancer is serious, but we have been dealing with pancreatic for a year now and this is serious like PC is serious!

God Bless You all

Jan

God Bless You!!  I only know that with my husband---he was a truck driver and ate in restr. most of the time. I was told that he had a silent acid reflux---he would not even of know he had it. My only suggestion for the GERD is to make sure you take something equal to a Prilosec--The Dr. said it helps the esophogis.  At present--my husband has lost 100 lbs. I do have to say he looks so much better and I feel the radiation is really helping. The Chemo knocks him on his you know what. Its such a tough disease to have patience with. Very slow progress. 

 

I wish you the best and will keep you in my prayers. I just came from our weekly bible study--when I go to church Saturday night--I wil keep you in our prayers.  God really does work,.  Keep the faith and keep the prayers.

 

God BLess

Judy E.

On 4/8/2008 hiswayc wrote:

 

On 3/20/2008 PS23312 wrote:

My  husband is 69----and in November of 2007, he was starting to cough a little more than normal--we both thought it was a virus. I brought him to the V.A. and was told that it was nothing. As the time went on--he got worse and once again I brought him tothe VA Emergency Room to be told very rudely that I had wasted their time---he was fine. He now could hold down nothing --not even liquids. I finally opted to go to our area Drs. we had had years before. After several trips for scans and blood work and other tests--it was determined he had Esophaeal Cancer. Since Dec. 2007--he has lost 100lbs---he has had a tough road---only able to be fed by tube.  He has had 2 weeks of radiation and his second round of chemo---he is now in a rehab center and last night for the first time he was able to eat egg salad and mashed potatos and gravy. This may sound very small---however to me it is very huge.

 

My problem is keeping his spirits up and believing that Jesus us curing him. He is so negative and I do not know what to do. He has had days that he is so angry at me (I know it is at the disease) and I get so upset. I pray every day for his recovery and I know Jesus is answering my prayers.

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks

Judy E.

Judy, this reply is a few days so I hope you get this message. I have been on the PC message board. My husband was diagnosed  stage IV last year, keep praying, get everyone you know to pray! My husband had his last chemo Jan. 16. He is working, having fun. Still gets extemely tired, but the prayer works.

The reason I am on this board is I have a few questions about EC.

To anyone who wants to respond,

I have been diagnosed with Gerd, and even tho it is minor now the test said- I have problems. i certainly want to nip this in the bud.

What advise do any of you have that i can use to do this. And what symptoms did your husband and father have?

I just came to this board today so I haven't read much yer.

I had no idea it was this serious a cancer-all cancer is serious, but we have been dealing with pancreatic for a year now and this is serious like PC is serious!

God Bless You all

Jan