My father has been diagnosis with Esophageal Cancer T3 N1 Mx

diana818

Hi everyone,

My father has been diagnosis with Esophageal Cancer T3 N1 Mx. He is currently 60 and in very good health. We are awaiting a pet scan which will be performed tomorrow. The mass in his esophagus is 10cm. His doctor is recommending him to do pre chemo and pre radiation then surgery. What I am worried about is pre chemo and pre radiation necessary? Are there statistic that show this method will increase his chances of survival? Also I am concerned that after chemo and radiation he will be too weak to handle this major surgery and long term damage from chemo and radiation. Please give me any advice or input you may have. Thank you so much!

-Diana

dlrepic

Hello
My father was diagnosed with EC IIB (Oct 2010). He had lymph node involvement and they started with chemoradiation, then MIE(surgery Dec 3, 2010). He had active tumor in the removed lymph node (1 out of 11) and has just started postop chemo(Jan 21, 2010). He is 69 years old and handling everything really well. The surgery wasn't too hard on him. William will have the advice you need, but where are you located?

Danielle

sandy1943

Hi Diana,
I was diagnosed
Hi Diana,
I was diagnosed the same as your dad in Nov. 2007, I didn't have radiation, but had pre op chemo. This helps shrink and get rid of the cancer before surgery. Yes it is neccessary. Every patient is different in their reaction to the chemo and radiation.Even though I did well compared to others,it still was rough, but well worth it. The drs. allow enough time to past after chemo, to regain strength before surgery. I was feeling well when I had my surgery in May 2008. I didn't have chemo after surgery because of a compication. My scans since show I am still cancer free.
Let us know how the pet scan goes.You will be hearing from others. There's so many on here to give you support and information.
Good Luck and my prayers are with you and dad, SANDRA

jrbholland

My Mom
Hi Diana,

my mom was diagnosed in June 2010 (T3N1). She had pre-op Chemo. The chemo was very effective and shrunk her tumour to the point that she was able to eat totally normally again between chemo and surgery. Unfortunately, the chemo was VERY hard on her system she was very sick and hospitalized during the treatment but I think it was still worth it.

She had surgery in October and it went very well. She is now working on healing and hopefully beating this awful disease.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you need any advice.

Jeff

GerryS

pre op chemo etc
I was diagnosed in Feb '10 with Stage 2, N1 M0. I was told that with the tumor I had the surgeon could get the tumor with surgery. It was successfu. Surgery in Mar followed by 2 rounds of chemo because of the node. I had a clean scan in Aug and one coming up in Feb. I will keep you informed. Hope all goes well with your father. God Bless.......
Gerry

BMGky

Pre-Op chemo and radiation then surgery
I can only speak for my husband's experience and medical team recommendations. Yes, the chemo/pre-op was necessary. It shrunk the tumor and killed off any aberrant cells that may be lurking but not showing up on the PET scan. After 4 weeks, he had the surgery. He had the more invasive Ivor Lewis surgery as his surgeon felt that the situation warranted this type. They have wonderful medicines to help with chemo nausea if it occurs. Radiation as it progresses does seem to zap energy. My husband was age 70 when diagnosed. He had to have a jtube due to a throat infection and frequently was dehydrated, having to be hospitalized twice during this period. I was first scared of the jtube, but it became his best friend. If I can learn to handle it, anybody can. There was significant weight loss. During the 4 week interval, he gained strength and regained some weight. The surgery was successful and no nodes were involved. A Pre-op PET showed no cancer; however, after the surgery and biopsy of the esophagus, cancer cells were found under the scar tissue. Our oncologist said, "That's the reason we do the surgery!" This protocol of chemo/radiation and then surgery has been found to be one of the most successful treatments of this terrible diagnosis. Coming back from the surgery takes a while. The jtube is gone and there are eating adjustments. It was nearly 6 months before Bill started to feel improved; however, during this time, he continued to work. While hard on him, I think focusing on working helped him recover. Your Dad is lucky to have a daughter nearby to assist. I'm sorry that your Dad has encountered Esophageal cancer. I'm sure it was a shock to you all as it was to us. This board is a great support and has helped me understand and get through so many things. They understand. They have great recommendations and suggestions. Fighting esophageal cancer is a battle but prayer and these friends here will help. My husband is doing great. Since he had lost weight and bought new clothes, all our acquaintances say he looks 20 years younger. That is not to say that there are no times when the going gets rough but because of the chemo/radiation and surgery, he has hope the cancer will stay gone. Good luck.

hobbssy

Hi Diana: My husband was
Hi Diana: My husband was diagnosed T3N2M0 Feb.2010. His oncologist explained that studies show there are better outcomes with chemo first. So he had chemo first, he didn't have radiation, had the Ivor Lewis in July and had post-op chemo. It was a tough year but I am happy to say he is now doing well. Feels better than ever and he says he is now starting to feel normal. He is 59 yrs. old. No apparent long term damage from the chemo, but he did have some side effects during the chemo. The chemo before surgery didn't make him weak, but I have to tell you the post chemo was very rough on him since he was still recovering from surgery. Hope this helps some. Patti

diana818

hobbssy said:

Hi Diana: My husband was
Hi Diana: My husband was diagnosed T3N2M0 Feb.2010. His oncologist explained that studies show there are better outcomes with chemo first. So he had chemo first, he didn't have radiation, had the Ivor Lewis in July and had post-op chemo. It was a tough year but I am happy to say he is now doing well. Feels better than ever and he says he is now starting to feel normal. He is 59 yrs. old. No apparent long term damage from the chemo, but he did have some side effects during the chemo. The chemo before surgery didn't make him weak, but I have to tell you the post chemo was very rough on him since he was still recovering from surgery. Hope this helps some. Patti

Thank You Everyone, this
Thank You Everyone, this makes me feel a lot better. Right now I am waiting for the PET scan results, (Pet scan will be done today) hoping it comes out clean and surgery can be done. will keep everyone posted, thank you all for the kind support.

ArchTB

diana818 said:

Thank You Everyone, this
Thank You Everyone, this makes me feel a lot better. Right now I am waiting for the PET scan results, (Pet scan will be done today) hoping it comes out clean and surgery can be done. will keep everyone posted, thank you all for the kind support.

Hoping for good results
Diana,
I am wishing you to get good results on the PET scan. Keep us posted.
Olya

Boston67

More information needed.
Hi,

Each person is different and each professional is different.

Chemo and radiation are designed as preoperative to both the tunmor and to aviod it's spread. What you don't want now is metastisis.

It was explaned to me as possibly thousand or millions of deformed cells wandering throughout your body producing cancer sites. We can easily imagine how difficult that would be to stop.

Confirm you are talking to the right people. Confirm the disgnosis. Is Mx the same as M0?, meaning there is not evidence of spread. Confirm why they wish to do pre radiation (focused kill) and pre chemo (more boadly focus to kill throughout the entire body and is about spread).

If you have excellent care facilities, properly funded and attracting very good and many doctors, the advice seems like advice I would follow if it were me. Very few Esophageal cancer cases are solved with surgery alone.

But you must do your homework and become convinced yourself.

Our prayers and good wishes are with you. Keep a good attitude and keep up the fight.

Keith (Boston67)
age 67, Boston
Stage IV (probably IVB)
Chemo starts February 2

diana818

Boston67 said:

More information needed.
Hi,

Each person is different and each professional is different.

Chemo and radiation are designed as preoperative to both the tunmor and to aviod it's spread. What you don't want now is metastisis.

It was explaned to me as possibly thousand or millions of deformed cells wandering throughout your body producing cancer sites. We can easily imagine how difficult that would be to stop.

Confirm you are talking to the right people. Confirm the disgnosis. Is Mx the same as M0?, meaning there is not evidence of spread. Confirm why they wish to do pre radiation (focused kill) and pre chemo (more boadly focus to kill throughout the entire body and is about spread).

If you have excellent care facilities, properly funded and attracting very good and many doctors, the advice seems like advice I would follow if it were me. Very few Esophageal cancer cases are solved with surgery alone.

But you must do your homework and become convinced yourself.

Our prayers and good wishes are with you. Keep a good attitude and keep up the fight.

Keith (Boston67)
age 67, Boston
Stage IV (probably IVB)
Chemo starts February 2

Thank You, it was diagnosed
Thank You, it was diagnosed MX because it was unknown, he is getting his PET scan done at 5 pm today, and we are all awaiting for the results. Thank you all for the support. Hope its M0 and operatable.