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Does anyone feel guilty? (family member)
Good morning to all. As some of you know, my dad has EC. I live in Florida and my dad lives in NJ. I am lucky as I can see him on almost a monthly basis. However, I feel so guilty when I do or even think about doing 'fun things'. I feel bad telling him about what my family and I did on a Saturday because I know where he…
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port time and radation - need some imput on radation effects please.
Mom's having a port put in the morn. I took it upon myself to call the Moffit Center today to see if they had Mom's records. They did and said that she is in a non-insurance program i guess , and will hopefully call with news of an appointment for a second opinion next week and to have some other eyes on her , I hope. In…
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Surgeon Recommendations & General MIE questions
Hello EC board! My mother has recently been diagnosed with EC (adenocarcinoma). While I have not received official staging from her oncologist, I believe she is Stage II (tumor is contained in esophagus, though it is in the wall; one small adjacent lymph node is involved). She has begun her eight week chemo and radiation…
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Hello, needing a place of hope.
Hello, my father was recently diagnosed with stage 3 cancer of the esophagus. I am so scared that he will not make it throughout this and everything I read on the internet is all bad news. I am hoping that I have come to a place where I will be able to get some information and positive feedback that will help us through…
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cat scan to check for free air in abdomen
Hi, my husband had the MIE last Friday. He is having some complications. A-fib, which they say is possible after cardiac-thoracic surgery and hopefully will convert to normal sinus rhythm with the meds. The one thing I don't understand is that they are doing a cat scan on his abdomen to check for "free air". Does anyone…
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Birthday Blessings
Saturday Rickie celebrated his 55th birthday! It is a day 10 months ago we were afraid we would not get to celebrate. I want to thank everyone here for their support, love, and most of all prayers, that have allowed us to come this far. Everyday is a blessing and I know how lucky we are. After his esophageal stretch last…
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Very Concerned Daughter and new (grateful) for this site
My father is 73. Up till now, he enjoyed good overall health. Within the past 3 months he endured the removal of his appendics and colon (no cancer found/the removals was due to severe ulcerative colitis/nonerosive gastritis). Then he needed some other surgeries due to complications of being bed-ridden (drain in leg due to…
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Tumor around the esophagus at the GE junction
My brother's cancer is carsinoma of the GE juntion stage 4,st but we were told that the tumor was on the outside of the esophagus and that the esophagus actually goes thru the tumor. I have done as much research on E.C. as possible but have not seen any information on this condition. The last CAT scan shows the tumor at…
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Really Already Agravated
My mother has worked all her life , some 25 years straight. Gave me a kidney in 2007 , just that kind of person didnt think twice. She was the first to get laid off , and had more time than anybody in the company.Now with no insurance just cant afford the Mayo clinics door. So know we are searching for a 2nd opinion. We…
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Could Bill have the Schatski Ring Problem?
We are still going round and round about Bill's coughing, gagging, and throwing up thick phlegm. Sometimes, a little food comes up, even from 2 days or so before. The doctor has put him on Claritin, Papaya Chews, and now Erythromycin to try and thin his mucous. He also has that nasal drip. Today, he went for another Barium…
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bad news for us today
As a result of our trip to the ER last Wednesday, we scheduled a trip to the oncologist for today. During our trip to the ER, we were told that the tumors in Lee's liver had grown and also that there were new ones. Our last CT was only a month ago, so this was a bit alarming. The oncologist turned our alarm into terror, as…
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My dad
Hi everyone..I'm writing about my dad 78yrs young stage 4 ec , pet scan showed it has spread to his spine. Starts chemo monday, I'm hoping someone can tell me what to expect, I know no 2 people are alike but the possibilites of maybe what might happen..he is getting Cisplatin and another drug , he will go once a week for…
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Vacation cut short/major setback/chins up
I haven't posted for several weeks. I was on what was supposed to be a three week vacation that was cut short a week due to the fact that my esoph.closed up while I was at Epcote. That was a shock. I was fine at breakfast and could not get tea down for lunch. As we were 15 hours from UVA, I was hysterical. We made the trip…
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tonsil cancer
My husband finished radiation and chemo treatment for tonsil cancer last Friday. He has a feeding tube but can't keep anything on his stomach. He is vomiting every day. He is able to keep some water in him. He uses his anti vomiting medicine but it hasn't helped. They are giving him Jevity to put into his feeding tube but…
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A little scared
Hi all Mark has been in hospital for 2 days now on intraveneous antibiotics and fluids, still his temperature has not come down, where the antibiotics are going in he is all red like when you see an infection, he is also off all foods nothing appeals to him (notwithstanding the awful hospital food)I bring him up food daily…
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Hello to all of you
I have not posted in such a long time and I am sorry. After losing Vince in February I have been dealing with the care taking of my mom. She is almost 91 and lives with me. She is in fairly good health, except for the pre-cancer on her vocal cords. It seems like every day I am taking her to the drs for something tho. I…
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Pain AFTER j-tube
Two months after the MIE, Tom is generally doing fine. He says he feels 75% back to normal. But he is still experiencing some occasional pain and continues to take pain medications. I was wondering if anyone has experienced pain in the area where j-tube was places AFTER the tube has been removed. And if so how long before…
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Thank you all
Just wanted to say thank you to everyone for the thoughts and prayers. It's a great feeling knowing there are so many people praying for you. Thank you all for listening. Jen
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For those of you following the story of Ray (Jr.)
Hello everyone! I haven't posted in a while and see some are wondering where I have been, but (thank God!) there is nothing new to post on my brother. Jr. has been doing much better since they are keeping him hydrated every week and he seems to be tolerating the lower dosage of chemo. We all know it is pretty much a wait…
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A bit of a setback
Hi all Mark is currently on his second round of Chemo (Taxol), everything has been going really well except that now he has a really high fever I have just left him at the hospital where they are admitting him for a couple of days for antibiotics and fluids, just really praying that we have caught this in time, you know it…
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diagnosis stag iv
I found out today that mothers ec is stage iv. Wow , hard to believe. She says that she feels fine , no symptoms ?? The endoscopy test showed that it was positive for around the bottom throat , a knot on her collarbone and in the middle esaphagus. SOoo , next week she is meeting with radiology?? , her oc , and in all this…
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Today is the day
Mother will see her oc today to confirm a stage 3 im thinking. The ec has spread to lymphnodes and up to around the the spot above the collerbone. She is still thinking that the small town oc will take care of this. I have been telling her the severity of this , to witch she has now considered the Mayo Clinic in…
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Post treatment blood test results?
Hello, During chemo / radiation treatments (summer/fall 2010) my hemoglobin level held at ~14.0. The normal range for HGB is 14.0 – 18.0. Blood work from 3/11 had my HBG at 12.9, today’s blood work at 12.2. My PC says I’m slightly anemic and we’ll just keep an eye on it. I find it strange my HGB level continues to drop…
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Sciatic nerve pain...or blood clot?!
Hi friends, Husband had round 5 of chemo today and we met with the nurse practioner of our Medical Oncologist. We had told her last week Jeff was having pain in his lower right leg, it is the same pain that he had 6-12 months ago when he was diagnosed with a sciatic nerve. He was told last week to take Advil and the pain…
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New to site
Hi I'm new here. I found out about this site from my sister. Our dad was recently diagnosed with esophageal cancer. She told me about all the support thats out there and I'm pleased to find it. It's hard when you first find out about something like this and it's nice to know there are people out there that can help you…
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Done with Chemo/RAD...Think I'm a Sophmore now!
I just finished my last radiation treatment (24) and I finished my chemo last week (5 rounds Taxol/Carboplaten). I managed to hold my weight, and I have very little trouble eating or swallowing. My Catscan and Petscan are set for August 15 and 16 respectively with a surgical consult on the 17th with Dr.Prashant Shah at Fox…
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latest ct scan results
My latest ct scan results were discussed just before my 5th infusion of wicthes brew. I think that this is the most excited I have ever seen him. My primary tumor in the espohagus has gone from 13 cm to 6 cm all my mets are stable not bigger nor smaller at this reading. There are no new mets observed. treatment plan is one…
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Just found out today Mom has Stage 4 esophageal cancer im lost
I am an only child and about a month ago my mother was having stomache issues and she figures it was related to her acid reflux. After 2 weeks of testing they determined she had esophageal cancer. It has gone down hill every single day since. Im so lost and dont know whee to turn. I live a long distance from her and have…
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It's NOT all in my head!
Ok, endoscopy is done. Glad to have it over with. Just about ready to go take a nap now, cuz I'm groggy. (I'm pretty sensitive to sedatives.) First, I do NOT have EC. I can't tell you how relieved I was to hear that. What I do have is a hiatial hernia, Schatzki ring, GERD and laryngopharyngeal reflux. (it's unclear why the…
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EC stretch complications
Well, we thought we were going home yesterday . All 3 doctors had signed off on it,blood count looked good, no more bleeding. They gave Rickie an iron shot, and as he was getting dressed to go home he felt nauseated and started wretching and began bleeding again. So much for going home.this continued for about 5 hours.…