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Tumor size
What is considered a "large" tumor? A cancer patient said his tumor was "huge" 5cm. Mom has 8cm and now I read about the husband with 13 cm. Is there a parameter to tell us how large is large?
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Biopsy Results
Invasive moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma of the esophagus Comment: "A few cells with mucin droplets displacing the nucleus are present. I favor histiocytes, however an element of signet ring carcinoma will b ruled out with pancytokeratin stain, to be reported in addendum. Key portions of this case have been…
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Tumor markers
Hi all Just wondering how important are the tumor markers, Mark has been on Taxol now for three rounds another three to go, what I am wondering is prior to the Chemo his Tumor markers were quite high and that was reflected in his scan which showed a thickening of the original tumor and more lymph node involvement and more…
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Pain question(s)
My mom who just had her first endoscope - no official biopsy results yet told me that during dinner she was hit with terrific pain in esophagus and then across under the breast. She had to stop eating and go to bed. The pain passed. She said it hit her again this morning about 30 minutes after eating oatmeal for breakfast.…
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Prayers to Lee and Chantal today
If my memory serves me right - Lee is having an esophageal stretch today - prayers this gives some relief. Lee and Chantal - you are in our thoughts and prayers . . . .
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why ct scan instead of pet scan
On Oct 12 My husband will have his 4th round of chemo 5-fu, Oxaliplatin, Leucovorin and a study drug, but its a blind study, so we dont know if he's getting the real pill or not. Anyway the following week he will have a CT-SCAN. I thought they did PET-SCAN. I couldn't speak to Dr. Gibson at this weeks chemo because he had…
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GGRRHH
Hi all Is anyone else having issues with anger, I am finding myself so wound up I am really angry at the whole world, feel like screaming at someone or something (don't know who or what)can't seem to let it go at the moment and its turning me into someone I don't like much, really hoping someone can relate and tell me how…
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My Husband was Dx 8/2011 Stage 3 Squamous cell t3n1 m?
Greetings, I have been reading this forum for a couple of weeks. You people are amazing.. your positive attitudes, support and compassion are very inspiring! My husband was dx Aug. 2011. So far 14 Drs. appt. upper endo,cscan, chest xrays, pets, cardio, pulm. During the inital upper gi doc could not move the scope pass the…
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from the president
I know I have been on so many times with my plea to any of you vietnam vets. Just wanted you to know that I FINALLY got a call from the VA on Friday that they just received, priority mail, from the white house my letter reagrding Vinc's EC and Agent Orange. I wrot the letter over a month agao and they just now got it.…
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Dear Brother Diagnosed - Help
My brother, age 45, was diagnosed 3 weeks ago and it looks like Stage 3 adenocarcinoma caused by gastric reflux of all things/never a smoker or drinker. It is a very large tumor - 13 cm and may involve 1 or 2 lymph nodes. Surgery - Ivor Lewis is scheduled for Oct 20th, however he is going to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester…
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Article for ArchTB
Hi Olya, I hope that Tom is continuing to recover and getting stronger everyday. I saw this article today and thought of an earlier post about 9/11 and Tom's EC. They are starting to establish a link between GERD and those exposed to the after effects of 9/11. I wasn't sure if I should share this, but I thought you would…
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IL vs. MIE
So, I've been doing more research and right now we are set to do the IL but we are also talking with Luketich to get more info. And what we are reading from the studies and all the literature is this: Seems that the best benefit of the MIE is that if you are a more frail and older person you might do better with the MIE.…
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Writing this through my tears-from Kateel
Hello everyone, I haven't written for a while. As I sit here with tears running down my cheeks, I want to share with all of you that Bill remains in a deep coma since his stroke on Sept. 1st. He has had a few times of opening his eyes, but I have been told that he will never be able to swallow or eat again, never talk…
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New member, Newly diagnosed
Hi, so relieved, not happy, but relieved to discover this site. My otherwise rock solid healthy happy upbeat amazing husband who just had a "touch" of heartburn for a few weeks... yes... just got diagnosed with T2N0M0 adenocarcinoma of the GE junction. Like all of you, it was devastating news and we are just coming to…
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Mom just diagnosed
Report used words like: large, friable, frond-like/villous, fungating, and infiltrative. Then went on to say "very large esophageal malignancy at the distal esophagus just above the g-e junction. It is at least 8 cm long." So I googled this. Nothing I've read sounds positive. I did not share this info with my mom (84).…
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Bio Bands
Has anyone heard of Bio Bands for nausea?
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Here we go again (or maybe not?)
As some of you may remember I was recently diagnosed with a recurrence in the right paratracheal node. They found the distant metastasis 9 months out from my MIE. My surgeon said surgery was not the answer and sent us to our oncologist. We met with our local oncologist last week and he said he could only offer palliative…
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husband stage 4 Cant Eat
My husband has had 2 chemo treatments for stage 4 he is having such a hard time eating. I thought after chemo this should shrink tumor. Other then pudding nothing is going down. Does the eating ever get better?
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How to make yourself burp?
Hi gang; Any tips on how to force a burp or hiccup? I do both all day long but they're painful as the air just bangs against my esophagus and doesn't go anywhere, perhaps 5% make it through. I'm on an anti-hiccup med which doesn't seem to do much.. any tips? - Lee
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New desperately seeking advice for unremitting reflux post sx
Another EC survivor pointed me to this site, i am so grateful for another resource. My husband 55 former stonemason had EX dx Dec 08. Staging in boston, treatment plan formulated there, carried out locally in our state. Surgery, MIE in Boston May 09. Now over a year later, we still fight with the effects of the surgery..…
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John Looking Better & Better
John is looking and feeling better. The incision site has stopped draining and the site is closing up and healing , looks like infection is gone! The ankle swelling is gone also. I believe it was from tube feedings ( not sure why but…) I slowed down the tube feeding Thursday night and stopped the tube feeding Friday…
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Insurance questions
As we start to get all the EOB papers in the mail I am wondering if anyone has experience with appealing claims. I know that after this is over - meaning when surgery is over, I'll have a huge file of EOB's that say that did not pay the full amount for UC ( usual and customary). If any of you have a good system for…
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Back to Reality
September for our family has always been a hectic month filled with school starting, birthdays, meetings, and settling into routines. As the kids grew up and out the door, things calmed down, and last year I almost seemed a little lost without the routines of teaching and was trying to find my “groove.” What a difference a…
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PET results and questions
"Good news!" That was the first thing the oncologist said when she walked in the room yesterday with the results of Larry's PET scan. The chemo is working. There was no activity shown in the esophagus itself now, just some thickening. There is still some activity in the lymph nodes, but not as much as before--less activity…
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End of Life Issues
Hello, My mother is 86 years old and has esophageal cancer which has spread to an area of her chest between her lungs. My mother’s doctor told us that she cannot be cured since the cancer has spread to her lymph nodes. But the Doctor said that he can “sustain her.” Over the past few months, I’ve gradually learned, and I’ve…
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Hopper52 Update
Well, it's been a week since my aborted surgery and the bad news. I feel I should share what transpired and where I am now. I had my MIE scheduled for Oct 07th. Not having difficulty swallowing but it seemed like nothing or very little was passing through. On Sep 12th my abdominal pain got unbearable and my research…
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First Post-Op PET/CT Scans Results
I had the big surgery in April and was scheduled for my first PET/CT Scans and blood work for last month but I had to testify at a trial so it was all rescheduled for last week and the meeting with my oncologist was today. All clear!!! I am sooooo relieved...
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Ray (Jr.)
From Kathy, Ray's wife: pray for ray, well the test was good,,God is sure answering our prayers..he had a bad reaction to infusion today, but that was taken care of after about an hour..that wore him out.keep praying. It was a good scan,the tumor has shrunk alot, the area that was massive has reduced, there are a few spots…
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John Looking better
John is looking and feeling better. He has been on continuous feeding through j-tube (he started Tuesday @ noon). Once he started the tube feeding I could see the difference in a few hours. The infection looks ( to me) like it is clearing up. He started antibiotics on Sunday afternoon, the incision site is still draining…
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cher76
Just worried about you, haven't heard back from you. Send me an e-mail or something!!!