similar symtons before being diagnosed

has anyone here  had or heard of such severe symtons before being diagnosed. my loved one has lost about 60 + pounds has not eaten solid food in about 3 months and for about the last 4 weeks only attempts liquids. which come right back up. the doctor said when doing the scope even a pediatric would not go down,she had to stretch with balloon for biopsy. have not gotten bioipsy back. but she said cancer. it seems alot of stories here do not talk about not being able to eat or drink a thing. if his tumor is so large. he cannot even sip fluids. i'm wondering if this will reflect his stage of disease. can anyone with similar symtoms please talk to me. thanks beth oh yes he is 44 and previousl in exhealth. and athletic. but has had a 20 year history of heartburn and reflux. also a tbacco chewer. big baseball fan. also has extremely bad breath that is noticeable from a distance. that does not go away with any amount of brushing and rinsing. . i know these things are not pleasant to speak of but are real.please tell me what and when they will do so he can eat.

My 56 year old husband was diagnosed with Stage 3 EC at the junction on 3/17/08.  For about six months prior to that time, he was having difficulty swallowing certain foods, from what I can remember, breads, pizza crust and cake (he used to tell me that my cakes were too dry) but never had any problem with swallowing liquids.   Over that period of time he lost approx. 10-15 lbs.  My husband has had acid reflux and heartburn for about 20 yrs. and smoked up until 4 yrs. ago.

Maria

My 63 year old mom had symptoms of difficulty in swallowing. Initially she could not swallow rice/bread without mixing with soup or water. The last month of diagnosis she had difficulty even swallowing liquids. It came back up which really scared me. She has bad breath too. She was diagnosed with EC at advanced stage. I was never told her exact staging. But I suspect it is stage IV.

hi there.

i was 37 when i was diagnosed, last year.  i was diagnosed at a stage3/4 and couldnt get any food down.  when i would drink liquids, it would only make it worse and i would have to choke everything back up.  eating became a nightmare and it was very painful to put anything down.  it had gotten to the point where i was uncomfortable to eat in front of people.  i couldn't even eat in front of my children because i did not want to alarm them...they had seen me cough up my food before and i did not want them to know how often it was happening...my 7 year old began to question my husband as to what was going on.  when i was first scoped and biopsied my dr. had no problem that i know of.  however, a week later i went into the hospital for an endoscopic utlrasound and i was told he could not pass the scope as far as he wanted.  during this procedure, the dr. 'popped' the tumor area (streched it) which made it a little easier for me to eat for the time being, however it was not totally clear.  it wasn't until after my 1st chemo session that i started to feel improvement.  mid way through my treatments, i was eating like normal again!

hang in there and stay positive!  do not hesitate to bring your questions to the board.  there are many remarkable people in here and this place is God send!

be well and God bless you and your love!

-Stacey