New Cancer Diagnosis

MrCandle
MrCandle Member Posts: 3
in Esophageal Cancer #1
My wife has been fighting breast cancer for 4 years now, it is stage 4 metastatic breast cancer of the bone now. Just this month we were given a diagnosis of a new cancer, esophageal cancer - barely 2 weeks ago. So now we are fighting 2 different cancers at once. She is getting radiation on her bone tumors and getting ready for her third round of Chemo, which she has already had 15 months combined of chemo. I guess I wanted to know if anyone else out there has been in the situation of fighting 2 cancers at the same time? Our doctors have kind of caved on us, they seem ready to quit. We are not ready to quit so we are finding new doctors right now. She has a very hard time swallowing anything right now and is recieving nutrition via her Port-a-Cath (TPN). she can swallow liquids and some soft foods but She doesn't eat much and throws up much of that. Are there foods that seem to work better than others? Any advice is apreciated.

Thank you,

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  • MrCandle
    MrCandle Member Posts: 3
    #4
    Thank you everyone for the
    Thank you everyone for the information. Just for clarification the EC is unrelated to the Breast cancer, it is a separate cancer based on the biopsy and pathology reports. At this point the doctors are saying that they are treating her Palliatively. Surgical options that are available will only be done on that basis. Staging has not been completed, this is because the Endoscope was not able to pass the tumor in her Esophagus, so they were unable to fully evaluate using Ultrasonic means. We would like to be able to get some procedure that would allow her to swallow on her own if possible, an MIE or IL are not options at this time due to the multiple active bone mets in combination with the EC, major surgery could cause the Breast cancer to accelerate because of the upset to her immune system. We've been told that dilation may not be a good idea because it may possibly rupture the esophagus, a stent cannot be placed for the same reason. We aren't expecting curative surgery just something to make her more comfortable and able to swallow more than just liquids. Sounds like the EMR might not be an option either but we will be talking with the surgical team more on Wednesday.
    We are located in California about 2 hours outside of Los Angeles, and about 6 Hours from San Francisco. We are insured and it is a consideration for treatment options. Our insurance company has been very good so far about referrals to outside groups when necessary, she also has medi-care. Most of the information I have given here came from a second opinion meeting held in a hospital in North Los Angeles (Woodland Hills). We may push for a consult with UCLA or Stanford. Travel is tough for her but she made the trip yesterday on 25mg of Phenagren and 4mg of Dilaudid. 6 hours to and from.
    I'll talk to her about a J-tube, maybe she will be willing.

    Thanks all
  • MrCandle
    MrCandle Member Posts: 3
    #5
    MrCandle said:

    Thank you everyone for the
    Thank you everyone for the information. Just for clarification the EC is unrelated to the Breast cancer, it is a separate cancer based on the biopsy and pathology reports. At this point the doctors are saying that they are treating her Palliatively. Surgical options that are available will only be done on that basis. Staging has not been completed, this is because the Endoscope was not able to pass the tumor in her Esophagus, so they were unable to fully evaluate using Ultrasonic means. We would like to be able to get some procedure that would allow her to swallow on her own if possible, an MIE or IL are not options at this time due to the multiple active bone mets in combination with the EC, major surgery could cause the Breast cancer to accelerate because of the upset to her immune system. We've been told that dilation may not be a good idea because it may possibly rupture the esophagus, a stent cannot be placed for the same reason. We aren't expecting curative surgery just something to make her more comfortable and able to swallow more than just liquids. Sounds like the EMR might not be an option either but we will be talking with the surgical team more on Wednesday.
    We are located in California about 2 hours outside of Los Angeles, and about 6 Hours from San Francisco. We are insured and it is a consideration for treatment options. Our insurance company has been very good so far about referrals to outside groups when necessary, she also has medi-care. Most of the information I have given here came from a second opinion meeting held in a hospital in North Los Angeles (Woodland Hills). We may push for a consult with UCLA or Stanford. Travel is tough for her but she made the trip yesterday on 25mg of Phenagren and 4mg of Dilaudid. 6 hours to and from.
    I'll talk to her about a J-tube, maybe she will be willing.

    Thanks all

    My wife now has a J-tube, it
    My wife now has a J-tube, it had to be done twice because the first one caused a bowel obstruction that wasn't caught till we got home. She's home now and the tube seems to work fine. She is complaining about the feeding formula Jevity 1.5, it seems to have enough milk content to make her sick, she is lactose intolerant. If any one has suggestions for a different formula it would be appreciated. During the surgery to install the J-tube the doctor looked at her stomach with hopes of using a G-tube and found that it was not an option. The top 1/3 of her stomach is cancerous. That with her bone mets from the breast cancer, which is now causing very low blood counts, she is not a candidate for surgery on the EC. So we are at home now taking advantage of hospice care to make her comfortable.

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