My husband lost his battle with esophageal cancer on April 26th. He had a vicious chemo treatment the previous Friday, and by Tuesday, he had so much blood in his urine it looked like a Beaujolais, his lungs were so wet he sounded like a coffee percolator and his vitals were way off. By Friday night, he could no longer communicate and by Saturday evening, he finally stopped breathing and his heart gave up. I had just finished combing his hair again, and I guess he felt neat enough to go.
He was mistreated by the medical system........no...not a long wait for cancer treatment, but delays by the gastrologist who refused to scope him for 6 months because his hemoglobin was ok, and then the hospital who delayed him for 5 months because of overbooking.
When they found the cancer (at last) there was a rush to diagnosis, and then a meeting with the oncologist, a chemo class, a catscan and a chemo treatment in one day.
NEVER EVER did they mention that this cancer often spreads to the peritoneum, and they should have done a laparoscopy to see if there was any cancer there before starting treatment.
In less than a year since the diagnosis, my sweetie lost over 140 lbs, and catcans revealed it was in his lungs, kidneys and possibly his brain because of temperament changes.
IF YOU EVER GET THIS DIAGNOSIS, INSIST ON THE LAPAROSCOPY. IT WILL SAVE YOU THE CHEMO, RADIATION AND SURGERY IT TOOK THEM TO LOOK IN THE ABDOMEN, BECAUSE THAT IS THE DEATH SENTENCE.
ONE MORE QUESTION TO ASK IS WHY WOMEN WHO GET THIS SECONDARY CANCER AFTER OVARIAN CANCER HAVE A HIGHER SURVIVAL RATE THAN GASTRIC PATIENTS. I FOUND 3 TREATMENTS THAT MIGHT HAVE STOPPED OR SLOWED HIS PERITONEAL CARCINOMATOSIS, BUT HIS ONCOLOGIST WOULD NOT EVEN CONSIDER THEM, EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE COMMONLY DONE IN OTHER AREAS.
I found a triphase antibody that would have helped my hubby, and it is in wide use even in Russia, but only in clinical trials here in North America. There is something wrong with the system.
I miss him so much.