husband just diagnosed--need answers

My husband, who I am separated from right now but are planning on trying our marriage again,called me and said he was just diagnosed with esophageal cancer and is scheduled for surgery next month.  From what I've been reading from posters, it looks like everyone has chemo and radiation prior to surgery.  Why would he be going right to surgery?

I'm a breast cancer survivor and have also watched my dad die of lung cancer so this has thrown me for a loop.  I don't know much about this type of cancer.  Would they do surgery before doing any scans or further testing? 

I hate not having answers.  The unknown is scary for me.

Hi Selaine,

I think my husband is the only one on this board who had surgery first on 3/17/08 followed by chemo and no radiation.  He is a Stage 3 EC survivor.  Everything happened so fast with us.  My husband had an endoscopy on 3/11/08 and his Gastro Dr. was able to get him an appointment to see one of the best surgeons in our area and he was operated on less than a week later.  So far, all his CT scans have been clean.  I did worry afterwards after I started reading that this doesn't seem to be the normal sequence but so far everything has been fine.

Maria

i think it all depends on the stage of his tumor. the goal of pre surgery chemo/radiation is to shrink the tumor to enable the surgeon to have a better chance of getting all the remaining cancer in the tumor. it is a good question to ask his surgeon ie why straight to surgery and no pre surgery chemo/radiation.

the other scenario i read about a quick surgery is when the tumor is aggressive and high risk of spreading.

anyway have a good discussion with the doctor.

 andy

hi.

i agree with andy...it all depends on the stage at which one is diagnosed.  i have read about stage I's going straight to surgery with no chemo or radiation.

however, i am confused about no scans being done...i would definitely question the dr. with any concerns you might have.

i am a stage iv survivor....it is a little over a year now that i finished my treatments.  i had my surgery on 9/2/08 and am currently cancer free.

tell your ex to hang in there and stay positive!  a good attitude and the right dr. is very important! 

be well and God bless!

-Stacey

one more thing...

feel free to ask as many questions as you like here....the people on this board are extraordinary and very knowlegable.  they helped me tremendously through a very tough time and i am glad to have them. : )

I also had surgery first stage 3. my surgery was on 3/9/07. i have been cancer free since. oct. 1/ 09. I had a ct scan last week . the dr. said, today that I was cancer free. the only problem was my port has not been flushed out since last oct. Next week the surgeon will remove it . I did not know the port needed  flushed out every 30 days.

                                                  Pete

Now I'm even more confused.  My husband is only feeding me bits and pieces. Now he says that they will be doing some kind of Laser thing next (this is the surgery he was referring to).  Would this be a diagnostic tool or a treatment tool.  It sounds like they are saying that he MAYBE has cancer and this test will determine for sure.  He says he does have a "mass" and that is what they are going to laser.  He said it was the nurse who said it may be cancer.

I don't know if he is purposely being vague or he doesn't want me to know what is really going on.

On 7/28/2009 selaine wrote:

My husband, who I am separated from right now but are planning on trying our marriage again,called me and said he was just diagnosed with esophageal cancer and is scheduled for surgery next month.  From what I've been reading from posters, it looks like everyone has chemo and radiation prior to surgery.  Why would he be going right to surgery?

I'm a breast cancer survivor and have also watched my dad die of lung cancer so this has thrown me for a loop.  I don't know much about this type of cancer.  Would they do surgery before doing any scans or further testing? 

I hate not having answers.  The unknown is scary for me.

 

 

Selaine:

I was given chemo prior to surgery to enable the tumor to shrink so I could have surgery or else it would have not been possible. I had an endoscope done and immediately was told it was cancer, but a bio opsy was done to ensure the finding. I am glad I had either my husband or sister with me as at times I was confused and in a fog and if not for them I may not have known all that I needed to.Your husband could be having a similar problem as it is a hard thing to take in and deal with and may be abit confused about his treatment. It is best if someone could go with him on doctor visits to be his ears. If you need any questions answered we are here for you so please do not hesitate.

Take Care and Be Positive

Evelyn

i agree with Evelyn....it is always good to have another person along at dr.s appointments.  my husband always came and if he couldn't i took my sister.  i also carried a notebook with me and took notes...that might sound a little nutty, but i wanted all the information i could get my hands on in order to get myself better...things were so overwhelming...there was no way i could have gotten everything straight on my own.  it was also good to have someone there for support too.....without my family, mainly my husband, by my side i could have never gotten through it all.

God bless and stay positive.

-Stacey

On 7/28/2009 MariaL wrote:

Hi Selaine,

I think my husband is the only one on this board who had surgery first on 3/17/08 followed by chemo and no radiation.  He is a Stage 3 EC survivor.  Everything happened so fast with us.  My husband had an endoscopy on 3/11/08 and his Gastro Dr. was able to get him an appointment to see one of the best surgeons in our area and he was operated on less than a week later.  So far, all his CT scans have been clean.  I did worry afterwards after I started reading that this doesn't seem to be the normal sequence but so far everything has been fine.

Maria

My husband also had surgery before any other treatment.  His lymph node was involved and they suspected tonsil cancer.  Within a week of diagnosis, he had his tonsils and adenoids removed and a semi radical neck dissection to remove the offending lymph node (only one was involved). Turns out he had cancer in both tonsils.  The surgeon was doubtful that radiation and chemo would shrink the tumor enough to not require surgery, so we all decided that as long as he had to have surgery (tonsillectomy) he would have the neck dissection at the same time, rather than go through 2 surgeries.  He then followed with 6 weeks of radiation, and never had chemo.  Now that I read all the other cases, his surgery seems very different.  Good news is that he never had the feeding tube (came very close) and three years later all scans are clean and he is doing great.  His taste buds are starting to revive, albeit slowly.

He also watched the cooking show all during radiation, funny but lots of patients seemed to be doing the same thing.  It didn't seem to depress him as he always enjoyed cooking and just liked the shows.

Guess all cases are different, and there are different ways to treat them. Good luck to you all going through this. It is not an easy cancer.  My husband lost 40 pounds way too quickly but has gained back 20 (and enjoys his new figure).