Stomach and esophageal cancer

wmott1122

Hello,
My father-in-law had his entire stomach and most of his esophagus removed on July 8th. He told us a few weeks ago that the lymph node tests came back negative and he would not need any chemo or radiation. Now he tells us he needs chemo and radiation or there will be a 90% chance of reoccurence. I'm not sure what stage his cancer is, but if he had such major surgery, and now needs chemo and radiation, what would his prognosis be? Any thoughts on this? Thank you! Wendy

bke

Wendy,
It is really positive that there was no lymph node involvement. From everything I have read and been told unless the cancer is at a VERY early stage the usual treatment is surgery plus chemo and radiation (or often chemotherapy first and then surgery). The statistics for recurrence are much better with chemo therapy in conjunction with radiation rather than surgery alone.
Since I am not a medical professional I certainly can't say anything about your father's prognosis, but I can tell you I am six months out from surgery, chemo and radiation and last scans were clear! Expect positive results for your father in-law as well. Check out the ECCafe web page. It is an esophageal web page, but very applicable. There is a great article there on statistics. Another help is the ACOR list groups. There is one for esophageal cancer and also one for stomach cancer.
Blessings
Barbara

May your father-in-laws journey through chemo be problem free.

swylie

The chemo and radiation are very common treatments for stomach cancer. My mom is in stage 1, and these treatments were recommended for her. The only time I've heard of people NOT undergoing these treatments is when the cancer is so advanced that there's little hope.

I would encourage you to find out what stage your father-in-law's in and to ask other questions you think are relevant. My entire family's been very involved with my mom's health care--we go to her appointments with her and such. It makes it easier on her and my dad to have somebody else who at least knows what's going on. There may be hard times ahead, and you will all need each other.

dayers

Hi...I went through the same thing in June 2000. I was supposed to have a few sessions of chemo and or radiation post surgery. I believe it's pretty much standard procedure. When I asked why they told me it was to get rid of any tiny bits of cancer that may have gotten left behind. Kinda like an extra measure of security. I only weighed 83 pounds after surgery and was too fragile to undergo chemo or radiation so they never did it on me. 3 1/2 years later I am still suckin' air. I would think that if he is up to it maybe he should go ahead and go through with it.

Deb

ZELLARS

swylie said:

The chemo and radiation are very common treatments for stomach cancer. My mom is in stage 1, and these treatments were recommended for her. The only time I've heard of people NOT undergoing these treatments is when the cancer is so advanced that there's little hope.

I would encourage you to find out what stage your father-in-law's in and to ask other questions you think are relevant. My entire family's been very involved with my mom's health care--we go to her appointments with her and such. It makes it easier on her and my dad to have somebody else who at least knows what's going on. There may be hard times ahead, and you will all need each other.

hey i see where your mom has same thing as my dad and i am also very involved. he had a tumor removed 3 yrs ago there was no node involvement and he had chemo and radiation. his past scan showed 2 small tumors right outside stomach wall. he can no longer have anymore radiation to the area and is going through really rough chemo --much stronger with all the bad side effects this time. they want to shrink the tumors then do surgery to remove them--nothing has really been said about if they dont shrink.i was so relieved 3 yrs ago because the surgeon gave us the impression that it was gone and the chemo and radiation treatments were done. they staged him 3 yrs ago stage 2 not because of node involvement but i think because of size. i have been looking for someone with similar stories. hope your mom is well.

scparra38

ZELLARS said:

hey i see where your mom has same thing as my dad and i am also very involved. he had a tumor removed 3 yrs ago there was no node involvement and he had chemo and radiation. his past scan showed 2 small tumors right outside stomach wall. he can no longer have anymore radiation to the area and is going through really rough chemo --much stronger with all the bad side effects this time. they want to shrink the tumors then do surgery to remove them--nothing has really been said about if they dont shrink.i was so relieved 3 yrs ago because the surgeon gave us the impression that it was gone and the chemo and radiation treatments were done. they staged him 3 yrs ago stage 2 not because of node involvement but i think because of size. i have been looking for someone with similar stories. hope your mom is well.

Hello Zellars,
My husband, had a tumor romoved in aug. along with his whole stomach, and part of his esophagus. I am trying to find out some information. I was wondering if maybe you can help since your dad has had the same surgery it looks like. My ?'s are about diahrea it has been since may the my husbands chemo and radiation has been. He had surg. in aug. he seemed to do okay, with eating and swallowing after 3 dialations. it seems that everything he eats or drinks come straight through. He is unable to gain any weight. he was at 220 when was diagnosed,which was in Jan,2003. he is now down to 124. He is very depressed, unable to gain any weight or even go anywhere. Please if anyone can suggest anything please let us know.
we had seen the Drs, this thursday that just passed. He basically said that he will be like this for the rest of his life. I can't believe that. I know there is someone out there that has some kind of advise, or suggestions. Can someone please respond. Thank you .

I can also be reached at Chrsmtya@aol.com

scparra38

ZELLARS said:

hey i see where your mom has same thing as my dad and i am also very involved. he had a tumor removed 3 yrs ago there was no node involvement and he had chemo and radiation. his past scan showed 2 small tumors right outside stomach wall. he can no longer have anymore radiation to the area and is going through really rough chemo --much stronger with all the bad side effects this time. they want to shrink the tumors then do surgery to remove them--nothing has really been said about if they dont shrink.i was so relieved 3 yrs ago because the surgeon gave us the impression that it was gone and the chemo and radiation treatments were done. they staged him 3 yrs ago stage 2 not because of node involvement but i think because of size. i have been looking for someone with similar stories. hope your mom is well.

Hello Zellars,
My husband, had a tumor romoved in aug. along with his whole stomach, and part of his esophagus. I am trying to find out some information. I was wondering if maybe you can help since your dad has had the same surgery it looks like. My ?'s are about diahrea it has been since may the my husbands chemo and radiation has been. He had surg. in aug. he seemed to do okay, with eating and swallowing after 3 dialations. it seems that everything he eats or drinks come straight through. He is unable to gain any weight. he was at 220 when was diagnosed,which was in Jan,2003. he is now down to 124. He is very depressed, unable to gain any weight or even go anywhere. Please if anyone can suggest anything please let us know.
we had seen the Drs, this thursday that just passed. He basically said that he will be like this for the rest of his life. I can't believe that. I know there is someone out there that has some kind of advise, or suggestions. Can someone please respond. Thank you .

I can also be reached at Chrsmtya@aol.com

scparra38

ZELLARS said:

hey i see where your mom has same thing as my dad and i am also very involved. he had a tumor removed 3 yrs ago there was no node involvement and he had chemo and radiation. his past scan showed 2 small tumors right outside stomach wall. he can no longer have anymore radiation to the area and is going through really rough chemo --much stronger with all the bad side effects this time. they want to shrink the tumors then do surgery to remove them--nothing has really been said about if they dont shrink.i was so relieved 3 yrs ago because the surgeon gave us the impression that it was gone and the chemo and radiation treatments were done. they staged him 3 yrs ago stage 2 not because of node involvement but i think because of size. i have been looking for someone with similar stories. hope your mom is well.

Hello Zellars,
My husband, had a tumor romoved in aug. along with his whole stomach, and part of his esophagus. I am trying to find out some information. I was wondering if maybe you can help since your dad has had the same surgery it looks like. My ?'s are about diahrea it has been since may the my husbands chemo and radiation has been. He had surg. in aug. he seemed to do okay, with eating and swallowing after 3 dialations. it seems that everything he eats or drinks come straight through. He is unable to gain any weight. he was at 220 when was diagnosed,which was in Jan,2003. he is now down to 124. He is very depressed, unable to gain any weight or even go anywhere. Please if anyone can suggest anything please let us know.
we had seen the Drs, this thursday that just passed. He basically said that he will be like this for the rest of his life. I can't believe that. I know there is someone out there that has some kind of advise, or suggestions. Can someone please respond. Thank you .

I can also be reached at Chrsmtya@aol.com

scparra38

ZELLARS said:

hey i see where your mom has same thing as my dad and i am also very involved. he had a tumor removed 3 yrs ago there was no node involvement and he had chemo and radiation. his past scan showed 2 small tumors right outside stomach wall. he can no longer have anymore radiation to the area and is going through really rough chemo --much stronger with all the bad side effects this time. they want to shrink the tumors then do surgery to remove them--nothing has really been said about if they dont shrink.i was so relieved 3 yrs ago because the surgeon gave us the impression that it was gone and the chemo and radiation treatments were done. they staged him 3 yrs ago stage 2 not because of node involvement but i think because of size. i have been looking for someone with similar stories. hope your mom is well.

Hello Zellars,
My husband, had a tumor romoved in aug. along with his whole stomach, and part of his esophagus. I am trying to find out some information. I was wondering if maybe you can help since your dad has had the same surgery it looks like. My ?'s are about diahrea it has been since may the my husbands chemo and radiation has been. He had surg. in aug. he seemed to do okay, with eating and swallowing after 3 dialations. it seems that everything he eats or drinks come straight through. He is unable to gain any weight. he was at 220 when was diagnosed,which was in Jan,2003. he is now down to 124. He is very depressed, unable to gain any weight or even go anywhere. Please if anyone can suggest anything please let us know.
we had seen the Drs, this thursday that just passed. He basically said that he will be like this for the rest of his life. I can't believe that. I know there is someone out there that has some kind of advise, or suggestions. Can someone please respond. Thank you .

I can also be reached at Chrsmtya@aol.com

dayers

scparra38 said:

Hello Zellars,
My husband, had a tumor romoved in aug. along with his whole stomach, and part of his esophagus. I am trying to find out some information. I was wondering if maybe you can help since your dad has had the same surgery it looks like. My ?'s are about diahrea it has been since may the my husbands chemo and radiation has been. He had surg. in aug. he seemed to do okay, with eating and swallowing after 3 dialations. it seems that everything he eats or drinks come straight through. He is unable to gain any weight. he was at 220 when was diagnosed,which was in Jan,2003. he is now down to 124. He is very depressed, unable to gain any weight or even go anywhere. Please if anyone can suggest anything please let us know.
we had seen the Drs, this thursday that just passed. He basically said that he will be like this for the rest of his life. I can't believe that. I know there is someone out there that has some kind of advise, or suggestions. Can someone please respond. Thank you .

I can also be reached at Chrsmtya@aol.com

well, it took me about 3 years to get back to my pre-cancer weight...yet i didn't have much to gain back....my normal weight is 115 and i dropped down to 80 after surgery to remove stomach and esophageal valve..i am now at 113 and easily able to maintain it...it seems it takes a while for the body to get used to the new "plumbing". i did best with proteins (meats, cheeses)until my body could tolerate other things like fruits, veggies, desserts. Today I eat anything I want and can almost eat as much in one sitting as I used to when I had a stomach. Tell him to have some patience, keep trying and eventually he will get back to where he once was or at least very close to it. :-)

jrbholland

dayers said:

Hi...I went through the same thing in June 2000. I was supposed to have a few sessions of chemo and or radiation post surgery. I believe it's pretty much standard procedure. When I asked why they told me it was to get rid of any tiny bits of cancer that may have gotten left behind. Kinda like an extra measure of security. I only weighed 83 pounds after surgery and was too fragile to undergo chemo or radiation so they never did it on me. 3 1/2 years later I am still suckin' air. I would think that if he is up to it maybe he should go ahead and go through with it.

Deb

Mom just diagnosed

I have been reading some of your posts. Unfortunately, my mom (54) has just been diagnosed with the adenocarcinoma of the stomach and esophagus. She has been told that they would like to do Chemo and Radiation and then hopefully surgery in the fall.

I was just hoping you could tell me a bit more about your experience so far. We are looking for any hope we can get.

Thanks,
Jeff

Jules11

From what I was told about
From what I was told about EC - the chemo and radiation is preventative measures. My husband had his entire esophagus removed and they stretched his stomach to make a new esophagus. If your father-in-law had both his esophagus and stomach removed, how does he eat?
My husband had cancer in a couple of his lymph nodes and had chemo and radiation after the surgery but they said even if he didn't have cancer in his lymph nodes, they would have still wanted to do chemo and radiation. Unfortunately, he is now dealing with new cancer.

I was told that this type of cancer can "seed" making it impossible to see the cancer sometimes, that's why it's good that they do chemo and radiation after. But since your father didn't have any cancer in his lymph nodes, that's a good sign.
Best wishes to you and your family.
Jules

emandeli

Jules11 said:

From what I was told about
From what I was told about EC - the chemo and radiation is preventative measures. My husband had his entire esophagus removed and they stretched his stomach to make a new esophagus. If your father-in-law had both his esophagus and stomach removed, how does he eat?
My husband had cancer in a couple of his lymph nodes and had chemo and radiation after the surgery but they said even if he didn't have cancer in his lymph nodes, they would have still wanted to do chemo and radiation. Unfortunately, he is now dealing with new cancer.

I was told that this type of cancer can "seed" making it impossible to see the cancer sometimes, that's why it's good that they do chemo and radiation after. But since your father didn't have any cancer in his lymph nodes, that's a good sign.
Best wishes to you and your family.
Jules

My dad was diagnosed last
My dad was diagnosed last month with stage IV cancers of the esophagus and stomach. The tumor is almost blocking his entire esophagus and went they went in to possibly take it out or take esophagus out they said it was too far spread through stomach. Can't they take out his entire stomach and part of or all esophagus?

canuck1

emandeli said:

My dad was diagnosed last
My dad was diagnosed last month with stage IV cancers of the esophagus and stomach. The tumor is almost blocking his entire esophagus and went they went in to possibly take it out or take esophagus out they said it was too far spread through stomach. Can't they take out his entire stomach and part of or all esophagus?

Diagnosed with Gastro-Esophageal Adenocarcinoma
I requested to have a scope done after overhearing a conversation regarding acid reflux and possible cancer. They found the cancer at the junction of the esophagus and stomach in a hiatus hernia (this was in October of 2006) I had a transhiatal gastroesophogectomy (exactly as it shows if you look it up on the internet- google) in December of 2006 (24 days in the hospital) followed by chemo in Feb 2007 (2 sessions) and then 5 weeks of radiation and chemo and 2 more sessions of chemo .Went into surgery at 220 lbs. Came out of the hosopital at 180 lbs and over the past 4 years slowly dropped to my lowest of 145 lbs. I am finally up to 162 lbs. I eat whatever I want in small portions and if I do over indulge I regurgitate what ever is too much but I am cancer free for over 4 years and am due for a CT scan in a month and hopefully it will be clean. My chemo was with 5FU (Fluorouracil) and Leucovorin. In order to avoid the mouth sore I was always given ice cubes in the mouth during the actual treatment. Did not take any on my last treatment and sure enough I had the mouthsores.

Hoping that this is some reassurance that ther is hope. Bless you all.

mrsarndt

canuck1 said:

Diagnosed with Gastro-Esophageal Adenocarcinoma
I requested to have a scope done after overhearing a conversation regarding acid reflux and possible cancer. They found the cancer at the junction of the esophagus and stomach in a hiatus hernia (this was in October of 2006) I had a transhiatal gastroesophogectomy (exactly as it shows if you look it up on the internet- google) in December of 2006 (24 days in the hospital) followed by chemo in Feb 2007 (2 sessions) and then 5 weeks of radiation and chemo and 2 more sessions of chemo .Went into surgery at 220 lbs. Came out of the hosopital at 180 lbs and over the past 4 years slowly dropped to my lowest of 145 lbs. I am finally up to 162 lbs. I eat whatever I want in small portions and if I do over indulge I regurgitate what ever is too much but I am cancer free for over 4 years and am due for a CT scan in a month and hopefully it will be clean. My chemo was with 5FU (Fluorouracil) and Leucovorin. In order to avoid the mouth sore I was always given ice cubes in the mouth during the actual treatment. Did not take any on my last treatment and sure enough I had the mouthsores.

Hoping that this is some reassurance that ther is hope. Bless you all.

Your story is very positve
Your story is very positve news..thanks for posting...I just joined this site and was reading some of the posts...I am looking for ideas for regaining strength and some good recipes for high protein for my Dad...he has gone from 250-185 lbs in about 9 months...very weak yet...almost to the point of no return in his eyes...with constant encouragemnent we're hoping he rallies back to his normal self...the winter weather is keeping morale low tho...thank you again for sharing your story.