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Esophageal Cancer

Recent MIE at USC in LA
I have posted a few times before regarding my EC. The MIE went well (91/2 hours)with Dr. Stephen Demeester on Dec. 14. scopes went in through abdomen and right chest, with incision left neck. In hospital 10 days. Excellent care and pain management. I am back home in El PAso, Texas learning how to eat. Have lost 25 lbs. but…
Good report
Don and I went to surgeon on Thursday. He said that Don is doing great and he would not have to see him again unless he has problems. He told him to eat whatever he wants to and can tolerate. We are praising God for the good report. Now he will see the Urologist on the 7th of Feb. Pray that this will have a good outcome.
Feeding tube question
We are doing well dealing with Jim's feeding tube, but I have some questions that I believe you who have them or have had them can answer better than the "pros." Jim is progressing well, but has no desire to drink fluids or eat a "thick liquid" diet. He says he is not hungry or thirsty. The rep who brought out the pump and…
This is my first post...My husband has EC...
My dear husband was diagnosed with esophageal carcinoma this past December. The pathology report revealed invasive moderately to poorly differentiated adencarcinoma. Subsequent biopsy reports confirmed two spots on the liver were also positive, hence the stage IV status. Yikes! This all began when my 63 year old hubby had…
Tom's chemo started today at the u of chicago
We were both glad to see his Drs..Villifor and Campbell...they spent a lot of time with him as did the nurse in charge...explaining side effects etc...good they handed him the sheets...cause who knows what he remembers..me everything.. He has a brother to taxol and carboplatin....Dr. Villifor said due to his excellent…
Update on Vince
Hi The last time I posted I ranted and raved about my husband having fluid build-up in his abdomen. I have calmed down since then a bit. I spoke once again to Chuck Hileman at UPMC and he sent an e-mail I had written to the oncologist Dr. Mark Gibson regarding all that was happening with Vince. Well I got an e-mail from…
UPDATE ON Linda's Jim
Well, this roller coaster ride just keeps on moving! Yesterday was a very tough day for Jim, but in the late afternoon he got the respirator out and had to cough up gunk for hours. It was excrutiating for him with those chest drains in. He was a real trooper and definitely is a fighter. The doctor explained to me that of…
Update on My Father
Well, he's still in the hospital. They want to keep him one more night for observation. Since they stopped most of the bleeding and he's gotten his fourth unit of blood, his hemoglobin numbers are finally up and are remaining steady. Thank you God! He had an ultrasound of his legs to make sure there where no new clots. All…
My father's treatment plan (stage IIIa) T3,N1,M0
Hi all, Just wanted to update you on where we're at. Dad has commenced his EOX Chemo and is finding it okay - he's on 2700mg a day of xeloda.... He has stopped taking Curcumin as it was making him sick with this Chemo - but I have also read since that Curcumin (with it's anti-oxidant) properties shouldn't be tanken with…
Quick Update on My Mom Ginny 1/13/11
Hello My Dear CSN Friends Wow..it has been one looong day! I have been awake since 3 am. Mom went into surgery at 8 am this morning. They told me it would be anywhere from 5 to 7 hours of surgery, and 3 hours in recovery. It has now come to that 7th hour, mom is off the bypass pump, her blood pressure is good, she just has…
newly diagnosed in Boston-- Allan-- age 67
Hi, my name is Pat. Allan, age 67, my dear partner of 18 years, has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 esophageal cancer that has spread to his liver. This last month has been a whirlwind of doctor visits and the upshot of it is that he is not expected to recover. The whole thing started when his gall bladder was removed…
Update on My Father
Asking for prayers yet again. Just heard from my mom. My father saw his oncologist this morning. His blood work came back with an extremely low hemoglobin number. He also had blood in his stool. So...the doctor admitted him to the hospital. He got three units of blood and the doctor is going to run another endoscope test…
UPMC'S great drs and my husband Vince
Hi all, Since I last wrote we have been having the storm of the century in Georgia. For the fist time this week the Cancer center opened and Vince got his 5th chemo Monday Dr. Gibson from UPMC called me to talk about Vince and the chemo he is taking here. After a lengthy discussion he felt that possibly the chemo Vince is…
Phase 3 clinical trial
On October 5,2010 my husband Rickie was diagnosed with EC. He is 54 years old. He had been having some pain in his upper stomach starting in the spring and thought he was developing an ulcer. He cut down on his eating and began to lose weight all the while telling me he was dieting. During later summer he began to have…
Question about side effects from rad
Hubby has been having some side effects that I wanted to ask you all about. His rad is finished now, but we were told it will continue to work for a couple of weeks after. He has been having upset stomach with occational spitting up of nasty bile like liquid. Brownish color he says. Also is having delayed gastric emptying.…
my dad and our fight
My father is 64 yrs old, a week before thxgiving we were told he has mastastic stage ivb esophageal cancer....with this we had one round of chemo with f5u pump, this has led him to become very ill and in the hospital the week of xmas. So chemo has been placed on hold till this up coming week in which it has been…
Tom's chemo starts next Wednesday
All he did was a put a call into Dr. Campbell and he called back early this morning...and Tom told him, he's coming back to the U of C and his doctors for his chemo. Dr. C was delighted...told him " I like you...and thanks for trusting us so much". He went and ran errands while I cleaned...I hate cleaning...and I was…
Please Say a Prayer for My Father
My dad is having extreme pain in his arm. He went to the hospital this morning and they were going to do an MRI on it to see what's going on, but he couldn't hold it in the position they wanted him to because it hurt too much. That is saying a lot of my dad. He has an extremely high pain tolerance and is a "tough guy",…
Some Tips before meetings and Appointments
Hi, Three things have worked for meet to get the most out of all meetings and appointments. Plan, record and review.....I go over each meeting several times in my head before the meeting. I begin taking notes of things I want to know right after the meeting is scheduled. My sister attends all the appointments and meetings…
Chemo and Radiation... What to Expect
My dad (age 75) was diagnosed with Stage IVb EC last November. Because of the Medicare HMO plan he was on, things have been moving at a very slow pace. Several road blocks have also been put in our way in the form of request denials and a laughable number of oncologists within network. There has been no treatment, though…
Don
It has been a while since I have posted anything on the site. Don is doing very well. He is eating a lot better and sleeping well at night. He has some soreness in his back, but of course that is to be expected. He had an 8 inch incision across his shoulder and Dr told me he would be breaking a rib to do the surgery. He is…
Transferred my medical care from Tufts to Dana Farber - Boston
Hi, I met Monday with Dada Farber in Boston and immediately transferred my medical care to Dana Farber. Dana Farber specializes not only in Cancer, but is espophageal cancer. My Primary Doctor is Dr Kimmie Ng, smart focused and caring. At Tufts, the Radiation oncologist, and MD had seven patients with EC, Dr. Ng said, "a…
Mr. Marshall
Thank you so much for sitting down again and writing to me. yes, I do believe there are alot of things that I am here for, one is to help my daughter fight her lyme disese which we have been doing for six years. The stress that we have been under didn't help her disease so we are both on a new mission to get better. I…
Tumor or ulcer?
Two months ago I sought medical advice regarding chest and back pressure. A CT scan indicated an esophageal mass. Since then, one doctor feels it is an ulcer. Another feels it is cancer. After two CT scans, three endoscopies (two ultrasound and one with fine needle aspiration), the jury is still out. Although all biopsies…
update on my mom
Lap Exam confirmed EC has spread to the liver. Mom (Beautiful Betty) has stage IVb and they do not recommend any surgery. Sad news, not what we (Don and I) wanted to hear, and she is having trouble accepting it. She was expecting a surgery to remove the cancer and feels cheated out of a chance to enjoy life a little…
Update on Diana and I
Hello everyone that we know and hello to all the new members. We are doing pretty good. The holidays were very tough, first we lost Ed, then my Mom, then Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Diana's 23rd birthday and then Ed's birthday this past monday. He would of been 57 years young. There were alot of those…
Tom will go back to U of C for his next chemo round..this afternoon was a disaster
We went to meet with the liason dr from the U of C...like 5 mins from our house...waited 2 hours...no one called to say come later..or we could of had lunch. I watched Tom carefully as the dr said..this is what his U of C recommended but later he would DEPART and then just consult them...on what he would do...Still no…
Jim's surgery in morning-Please Pray
Jim has his MIE in the morning at 7am Pacific time. I feel numb right now as I write this. We have waited so long for this and yet I am fearful of the results. I want him to live through the surgery and be cancer free. I feel greedy after reading so many of the other posts. Jim is in the hospital and they have sped up his…
battle lost
I lost my "soul mate" on October 25th when he lost his battle just after 4 months of being diagnosed with stage 4 esophageal cancer. He had told us he wanted to contact Hospice and stop the chemo treatments and we had an appointment set up with them. But the good Lord decided his work on earth was completed and called him…
I am sick at Heart
Yesterday Vince, my husband, had another 5 liters of fluid drained off his abdomen.He had had 5 drained off 2 weeks ago. The cystology report came back and there are malignant cells in the fluid. This is just so hard. We are going to our local oncologist in Blairsville, Georgia and he will have his 5th chemo cocktail on…

Esophageal Cancer

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