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I outlived my port
I started having problems with my mediport last week with redness which was finally diagnosed as a skin infection in the area. Well, the surgeon that installed it examined it and determined it couldn't be used any longer due to it being so close to the surface of the skin probably from some weight lose post-op. I had a PIC…
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Two Year Anniversary......Best Gift.......Clean Scan
Just returned from Mayo Clinic with a clean scan. NED. Yea! I am so grateful. Today is my 2 year anniversary of my diagnosis. We all remember that shocking and somber day. I continue to pray for all of you here and especially the newly diagnosed. It is a tough battle but can be won. God Bless..... Gerry
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Don goes back for post-operative chemo AND radiation
Well - the good news is that out of the seven lymph nodes taken (everyone has a different amount and they take what they can see during the surgery) none had active cancer, two did show scarring but no active cancer. The pathology report was not what we hoped for - we called for the report and a nurse called us back and…
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sick of sickness!
Hey gang, Just need to vent a bit. Jeff has landed in the ER with pnuemonia. He has been fighting a cough for a couple of weeks and it bloomed into full blown pneumonia this morning. He went to his doctor for the cough but all signs pointed to viral, even had chest x-rays. We are waiting to be admitted now. The good news…
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Brachytherapy? Weigh in please!
So due to bleeding in my esphophagus I will now be seeing a different radiation guy who specializes in brachy-therapy. Never heard of this.......Can anyone speak about this-the good and bad aspects of it and if it made a big difference? Thanks and keep fighting! MC
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Popi Surgery Status
Been up since 4qm. popi went in for surgery at 8:30am and was done by 1pm. Dr Rivera said, it was a great surgery. Good Margins and `20 lymph nodes taken for tests.. So for know we are celebrating as survivors... He is sleeping now and tomorrow morning we will be bright and early to start walking and recovering...God…
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New here
Hello, My Dad was just diagnosed with gastroesophageal cancer. The primary tumor is in the gastroesophageal junction and quite small. But unfortunately it's spread to his liver and he has a few nodules on his lungs. He's only 59 years old, great health, no risk factors whatsoever of this cancer. Doesn't smoke or drink and…
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25 days of the roller coster ride of cancer
My husband was diagnosed 25 days ago with stage one esophageal cancer....everyday is a roller coaster of emotions....The five stages of grief, denial is my favorite! We are going to do the surgery. I use to worked for cardiothoracic surgeons. I know the langue all to well....I was just on the other side of the fence,…
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Recovery after daVinci robotic assisted laparoscopy
Anyone have experience with recovery after daVinci surgery? How long? Complications?
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Hiccups!
My Dad's first treatment was yesterday...... cisplatin, taxitire, 5FU. He woke up at 2:30am with hiccups and he still has them. Omg what in the world is this about? Melody Father, 59 yrs old stage 4 gastroesophageal junction tumor..
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Dad - 5 week post surgery - caretaker question
My father had partial re-section on 2/20 - after some minor complications came home and is recovering. He is 82 years old and was in very good health prior to surgery and living on his own. My sister and I both live far away - i am a plane ride away and she is 2 1/2 hours drive. He is not having a ton of symptoms but the…
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Jerry's April Update
Well, okay. EC at the gastroesophageal junction, of course... And now mets to the adrenals. So, I'm on my second run of chemo, and this is the second infusion/pump. Y'know, sadly, before I went on this second run, I was feeling pretty good. But now... Ah, phooey. So, every two weeks -- Leucovorin, and Oxaliplatin for a…
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Posted by Michelle - LilChemoSmoker on Facebook this morning
Posted by LilChemoSmoker this morning We have entered the final stretch of our journey together in this life. Eric has become unaware of his surroundings and "why" he is here or "what" he is to do next. He does not want to sleep, but his body is tired and winning that argument. We have had nine months today since his…
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A Bump In The Road
As some of you know, I spent some time at "hospital camp" last week over pnuemonia and a kidney infection. I am sorry to report that we don't seem to be getting it together as of yet. I am still running a low grade temp and feel worse than a bad day in a kennel. Called the doctor on call yesterday as I had a tightness in…
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Doctor calls this brain failure?
Its been alittle while since i last posted. My dad was diagnosed with stage four esophageal cancer in lymphs, liver and kidney back in Oct of 2011. Since then we had a trail for alittle while and had a really great scan at eight weeks of 50% shrinkage. Continued on till cancer outsmarted chemo and changed to next chemo.…
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Surgery is two days away and am getting nervous.
My father will be having surgery April 3rd, MIE. Can you share what we should expect? I am very fearful and praying hard... Lynn
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Update on Don - Terry, William, Paul, Cora, Bob, Niki, Sam, Donna, Janet, angie Sajanson, CatpDave,
Hi Everyone! Trying to catch up on the news on our board and wanted to say THANK YOU to each one of you for all of your encouragement and advice. Jude sent me some great ideas for meals for Don and I'm adding avocado to the grocery list I am making. Monica - here is the link for the wedge (CaptDave sent this to us and I…
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ArchTB are you out there?
Checking in with JoelC got me to thinking about our other friends that we haven't heard from in awhile. I completely understand wanting to get back to life and living!! But, just would like to check and see how you and Tom are doing. Last we heard recovery was going well and you guys had a scan coming up. Hope everything…
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MIE over Thanksgiving- Recurrance ALREADY??
Hi friends- I've been MIA from this board mostly because we've been focusing on my mom's recovering from MIE. They had clean margins and all 22 lymph nodes came back clean. MIE was performed over Thanksgiving. First post-op PET was 2/6/12, where the doctor noticed some "areas of concern" but thought it may be post-op…
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Recurrence and Abdominal Pain
Its 99% certain my mom has recurrence, but we are waiting for biopsy results which were taken from behind her belly area. Every time my mom finishes a meal she has pain in her intestinal area that radiates to her back. So far 3-4, 500 mg tylenols are managing the pain. She will be starting chemo in the next few weeks too.…
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Don is home!
Don's swallow test was just fine and we came home this afternoon! Home Sweet Home!!! But wouldn't you know - had him in a wheelchair and all of his things in another wheelchair - had to wait at the hospital pharmacy for 45 minutes for prescriptions - but they had some musicians performing in the lobby area which was very…
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Diagnosed yesterday???????
I probably am about to describe a scenario that you are all familiar with. I went yesterday morning for a gastronomy because I was having trouble swallowing and a constant pain just below my ribs, where I felt my Esophagus met my stomach. I have a history of GERD and a Hiatus Hernia. All was progressing smoothly until in…
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Developing Symptoms
My ex husband was diagnosed with stage iv cancer in July. They gave him 3 rounds of chemo 3 weeks apart. The cancer had metastasized to his liver at that time. In December he went overseas and planned to be back this week. He called me last week and said his back hurt all the time and the meds didnt help. Today he called…
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My heartfelt sympathy is with all of you
To Everyone who has lost someone: Many of you do not know me but I use to post on here almost daily when my journey started October 10,2010 when my beloved husband Ed, was diagnosed with this terrible cancer, stage four right from the beginning. He lasted eleven months during which time he did six months of chemo then it…
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Class Motto by Terry
I love this class motto Terry posted: Credit for the class motto to Jeff Thomas - known on the forum as JThomas233, not JeffT. Quoting Jeff from NikiMo's "Last Day of Radiation" thread posted 07/28/2011 http://csn.cancer.org/node/223281 As a contributing member of the Sophmore class, and because I was a Fraternity member…
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Total Esophajectomy - Recovery Process
Hello, I am 29, had my surgery about 3 weeks ago, and am now trying to figure out how to manage my eating and drinking. I have had problems with dumping and lately gas. Every time I eat or drink I get a feeling in my new esophagus - like I want to throw up what I just had, and ultimately I end up running to a sink to…
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Slow Digestion
I have recently had another EGD done and they found food in my stomach. So, I had another test done where they scanned for 2 hours after eating a radio active sandwich. The results where that 70% of the sandwich was still there after 2 hours. So, my question is has anybody else had this problem? Also, what were the…
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Don Reed surgery went well
Don's surgery went very well Thursday. I apologize to not post here earlier. Short nights and long days - you all know that feeling. This is only post-op day 2 and already you can see such a big difference - he gets stronger by the hours. They are intending to pull the nasogastric line in the morning and I think he will…
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Botox Shots
Has anybody here ever recieved a Botox shot in the stomach to help in digestion? My doctor wants me to have them to help, but I would like to know if they work or not.
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Hard days
Tonight is the first service for mom. I thought the disease, treatment, and hospice care was rough, but this is so much worse. Does anything get easier?