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Here we come Pittsburgh Penn!!!
Not sure of an exact date yet, but looking at Mid-May when Brendon and I head to Pittsburgh to have the MIE with Dr. Luketich. I was soooo happy he made this choice! It was his choice to make and I would support any choice he made... BUT YEAH!!! I'm glad he decided on the MIE surgery!!! He only has 6 radiation treatments…
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Still Learning... NED?
Okay, this post will probably only require one response...but I need to know... What does NED stand for?? I know people use it when they have scans and tests and are cancerfree...but just didn't know the real definition of it. Thanks. Susie
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chemo fog/trouble with words etc???
Hi, I have been doing good except had a bad bout with some bug caught when my dr sent me to an ER and got sicker from whatever bug was lurking there. I was wondering if some of my survivor friends noticed that they are having more trouble than usual saying words. I have noticed more recently that I will substitute the…
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Last Wednesday scan shows a slight shrinkage and it's not spread
yet. Tom has had some negative side effects from the carboplatin that he discussed with his oconcologists today. Feet tingling etc. They gave this week off and will take him off carboplation and use a different taxol type drug at a lower dose. This means he'll have to go once a week instead of every 3 weeks. But the…
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PET Scans & False Positives
Hello, I wonder if you folks could kindly help me. My mother had an upper endoscopy and biopsy done, and was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. She is 86 years old and in poor health and the recent cancer diagnosis was devastating news. When we went to see the Thoracic Surgeon, my mother had not yet had a PET Scan done. The…
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Pain above feeding tube
My husband has been having pain above his feeding tube and it has gotten worse. I want him to contact our internist, but after talking to the surgeon's nurse he wants to wait to see his surgeon in Portland. We are going there Friday for a check and he will have a three month catscan. The nurse said it sounded like a…
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Stats
Why are the "stats" out dated. When will the National Cancer Institute post new stats on EC? I keep hearing that the survival rate is getting better and that what you find on the internet is dated. Why? Is there a time table we can expect to see updated information?
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Thinking about all of you
Hi, I just wanted to say that I am still reading this forum and still thinking about alot of you that I have spoken to in the past. Diana and I are doing ok, we still have our days, many of them sometimes, that we still get very sad about losing Eddie back in September. Life is not the same but we are trying to figure out…
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CT Scan Today
My husband is 1 year since dx, and 7 1/2 months since surgery. Good CT today with NED! Linda
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do you want your state to declare April EC awareness month?
I am a daughter of a wonderful guy with EC. He inspires me by what he has pushed himself to do since his surgery 12/09. Unfortunately he is in the hospital right now (Duke) due to complications after having a nodule removed from his lung. the surgeon believes it is EC---pathology results have not come back yet. I could go…
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dumping syndrome/ advice needed
Hello, my husband has started to have what we think is dumping syndrome. 10 to 15 minutes after he eats he has diarhea. I read somewhere that one should lay down after eating, but I thought he needs to sit up, as not to get reflux. Do you think he is eating too much? We are only 4 days eating soft foods etc. Ronnie69
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Esophageal/stomach cancer with malignant ascites
My brother James, age 63 was diagnosed with esophageal/stomach cancer (at the upper stomach sphincter) around Sept/Oct 2010 after experiencing swallowing difficulty. He had chemo and radiation shortly thereafter. He was soon thought to be cancer free with a Pet scan early February 2011. They were prepared to do surgery to…
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Pain in neck and back shoulder 7 months after surgery
Wondering if anyone else has experienced neck and shoulder pain several months after surgery. I had esophageal surgery this past July with 2 good CT scans since. The last one was done in early February. Lately, however I am experiencing back shoulder and neck pain, the pain even shoots down my arm (from time to time). I am…
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41yr old husband just home from surgery, need help
My husband, age 41,just had an esophagectomy etc, we are 2 days home from hospital and he can't sleep and is not tolerating food well, (not listening to directions) his mental state is a mess. Could use advice on eating, sleeping (positions to keep food down) and mental healing. His diagnosis was made end of Feb. was stage…
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Hi Everyone
It's been a crazy past couple months to say the least! My Grandpa finished up his treatment last Wednesday. Next step is to go for a scope then surgery. The doctor said he is very pleased with how his treatment went. He had minimal side effects but now that the treatment is over his stomach is bothering him more now than…
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Great News, EC Awarenes continues to spread!.
Thanks to MANY individuals pitching in ALL OVER the country, we are now up to 14 states that have declared April as Awareness Month! There are over 20 others that in the works. the latest state to join the push are PA, OH & MD. Here are the declared EC Month states: CA DE KY LA MD MN NC NE OH OR PA TN VA WI thanks everyone!
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informal survey Sleep Apnea
Thought I would take my own survey for a question that I have wondered about since my husband was diagnosed in October. How many people with EC also had been diagnosed with sleep apnea prior to the EC diagnoses? My husband was diagnosed with sleep apnea 17 years ago. Before that time he always had indigestion and acid…
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spread EC info with "reach out EC info packs!!!!
I do not work or get paid by ECAN.org but through my spearheading state EC Awareness months--I want to share this with you all--you can share this info with Dr's family friends, etc Free Awareness Kits kit You Can Reach Out with a Life-Saving Message --- As part of our Awareness Month campaign, ECAN will provide Esophageal…
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New info on Linda's Jim
I have been doing some research and have found a clinical trial for aortic valve replacement without open heart surgery. There is a trial in Seattle which is about five hours away from us. I had an immediate response to my inquiry, and a telephone call the next morning from the nurse in charge. They want to wait until Jim…
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Back from Boston and hoping for good results
Good evening to all. I have been reading but not posting lately I am exhausted by the end of the day and can't think very clearly. My daughter has been unable to keep fluid or food in her stomach for very long before she starts vomiting. This is with a pain patch and a nausea patch . She has lost 15 # since December now…
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Dry Heaves
We are on vacation in Florida. Last night we went out to eat with family. Don ate way too much. Mexican food to boot. About 3 this morning he started having dry heaves and shaking all over. Really scared me. Our granddaughter is a nurse and she came down and took his vitals. His blood pressure was okay, heart rate up a…
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Would love extra prayers this week - dad finds out if operable or not
If you have extra prayers to give we would appreciate them this week. My dad finished his chemo/radiation a couple of weeks ago and has a CT scan this afternoon. We will meet with the surgeon on Friday and will find out of he will be able to perform surgery on him. Please pray the answer is yes! An update on him otherwise…
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Overly optimistic parents/recovery time
Hi all- My 80 year old mother was recently diagnosed with stage 1T at a hospital in Alabama. She had a PET scan and a biopsy, and was told it would be a simple procedure to endoscopically remove the lesion. It was 4 cm. The PET scan showed no additional cancer. My parents called my sister and I to tell us it "was no big…
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Back from trip to Florida and I met Sherri
Hi Well My mom and I went down to Ft. lauderdale for a few days of rest. I am still grieving terribly for Vince but tring to get some sort of a handle on it. As everyone says we all do things in our own time. The one thing I have to remember is,is that I had 27 years of marriage with a man who was my best friend, my…
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The Mental game
Hi I really don't want to only post/ask about sad things, but has anyone got any tips for overwhelming sadness? Unfortunately Paul's medical team here left us with the statement "lets hope he has a good response to chemo" farewell message. After being told his bones (shoulder, neck and hip) showed worrisome results, then…
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My dad has a Heimlich valve for collapsing lung--has anyone heard of this?
My dad diagnosed 8/09, chemo rad & then surgery at Duke 12/09 followed with chemo. NED since... Well, he finally got home last week after 2 weeks in Duke hospital after a 1cm nodule was removed from his lung.(It had shown up on PET scan). It was only supposed to be a 2-3 day stay, but his lung wasn't healing. They said it…
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nice article about EC daughter...
Here is a nice article about an EC daughter that got Oregon to declare EC Month & why she did it.(you can cut paste into browser) http://www.canbyherald.com/news/2011/March/25/Local.News/letter.moves.governor.to.create.designation/news.aspx Kim
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Happy Birthday John
This has been a very busy month for our family. John decided to stop the chemo treatment last month and we invited the personal trainers also called Hospice into our home. We are very happy that we did. John has gotten stronger and is eating , eating, eating. He is also keeping himself hydrated on his own as well. He is…
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The miracle wasn't a miracle after all
Good evening to all the wonderful brave people on this board. My life has been turned upside down again. The reading of the CT scan of November was a so called miracle to us. It showed that the liver spots had disappeared and the cancer was holding .They said it was an unexplainable event. We were so happy to have a little…
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Surgery or not
After radiation and chemo, my doctor reported the my PET scan showed no cancer. He then said it was up to me if I still wanted surgery. This was never optional before. He wants me to see the surgeon and do research. If there is no cancer why cut out my esophagus? I contacted a support group and they wrote back: "because…