What to expect??

Hi everyone,

 I'm new to this board - my mother was diagnosed with stage 2A esophageal cancer a couple of weeks ago.  We just had her first appt with the oncologist, who recommended chemoradiaton.  It will be 6 -7 wks of radiation treatments with 3 chemo treatments spaced at about 3 wk intervals.  My mother lives alone, and I was hoping someone here can help me get a general feel for when & for how long she will need 24 hour support at home. 

 Thanks for your help! 

hi.

i am sorry to hear your mom is going through this...i wish her well...

as for the treatments.....of course everyone is different as are their treatments.  each person tolerates things differently and your mom might do very well with it all....remember to stay positive....it is sooo important!

in addition, keep in mind the effects of the treatments are accumulative and will get worse with each one.  i can not lie...it was not easy and there were many times which i was more out of it than i realized...thinking back it know, i realize it.  i had a total of 8 chemo treatments...once a week for 2 weeks with a one week break in between.  my last 4 chemo's were combined with 28 radiation treatments which i had every morning, 5 days a week for 5 weeks.  i worked fulltime up until radiation began.  radiation intensifies the chemo effects...i found my worse times to be the 2 days following my chemo treatments.  my absolute worst time was the last 2 weeks of treatments and the week that followed.  after that, i gradually got back to myself.  i was given about 6 weeks to recover for surgery, which i had with success on September 2, 2008.

i hope all goes well for your mom....keep us posted and ask any questions you want!

God bless and be well!

-Stacey

Hi Stacey,

Thanks for your insight.  I have a young daughter, and I'm trying to figure out how we're going to swing all of this for the next couple of months.  We have a first meeting with the radiologist next week, and I'm hoping they will also be able to give us some advice. 

Best wishes to you,

Christina