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Curts gal

My husband is 53 and diagnosed on 3/12 with EC and is in stage 3. Tumor is 20 cm long into his stomach and in several nodes. PET Scan did not show in any other areas. Has had one round of chemo of Epirubician and Cisplatin and carries around 5-Fluorouracil. Should be taking his second round on 4/25. After 3 rounds he will go through lower doses of chemo but adding radiation for 28 days then another PET scan. At that time it will be determined whether they will be removing the tumor or not. Right no my husband has been placed in the hospital because of fever and low blood count. Gave two blood transfusions last night and lots of medication for nausea and heartburn. I am scared but do not show him. Does this sound normal to any of you?

DanaMB3

Your husband’s situation
Your husband’s situation sounds very similar to my fathers. Stage 3, same location and also in some regional nodes. He was also hospitalized twice (last time was March 14-23rd) due to critically low blood counts/fever and had to have transfusions as well. We were told this is one of the possible side effects of the treatment. It is scary to see them in such a vulnerable state. I assume they are giving your husband a daily shot to help boost the white blood cells? (I think my dad was given Neupogen). Once my dad's number finally started going up - they kept going up and it was just a matter of waiting at that point for them to get high enough to release him. (I think once they started going up, he was released in 4 days - his started from zero the 2nd time).

I hope this is hopeful to you but once his treatment ended he began rebounding right away and is back to his normal routines now - work, etc. His appetite has increased and pain while swallowing have all subsided. When he was home and up for it, the doctor instructed him to work his way up to walking 30 minutes a day to increase his strength and prepare his body for surgery.

Please let me know if you have any more questions for me...hoping your husband recovers soon and can move forward with his surgery.

Curts gal

DanaMB3 said:

Your husband’s situation
Your husband’s situation sounds very similar to my fathers. Stage 3, same location and also in some regional nodes. He was also hospitalized twice (last time was March 14-23rd) due to critically low blood counts/fever and had to have transfusions as well. We were told this is one of the possible side effects of the treatment. It is scary to see them in such a vulnerable state. I assume they are giving your husband a daily shot to help boost the white blood cells? (I think my dad was given Neupogen). Once my dad's number finally started going up - they kept going up and it was just a matter of waiting at that point for them to get high enough to release him. (I think once they started going up, he was released in 4 days - his started from zero the 2nd time).

I hope this is hopeful to you but once his treatment ended he began rebounding right away and is back to his normal routines now - work, etc. His appetite has increased and pain while swallowing have all subsided. When he was home and up for it, the doctor instructed him to work his way up to walking 30 minutes a day to increase his strength and prepare his body for surgery.

Please let me know if you have any more questions for me...hoping your husband recovers soon and can move forward with his surgery.

THANKS
It is really nice to hear about the outcome of your Dad. I just asked the nurse what are they giving him to rebuild his white blood cells. She is going to go look because during the days he is not given anything. I hope and pray that my husband rebounds just as quickly as your Dad. Thanks again Liz and Curtis

sandy1943

Hi sounds like the same as
Hi sounds like the same as me T3N2M0. The chemo is the same I took. I was never given radiation. Even though my counts dropped with every round, I was fortunate. I never had to be hospitalized. I would have to take a shot for five days to build my counts back up.
I had the ivor lewis surgery in May '08 and have been disease free with every scan since then.
I hope you are looking into the different surgeries. I would recommend the Mie. The IL is the worst to get over.
Unfortunately, what he's experiencing does sound normal. We all react to treatment differently. It is understandable to be scared at this point. EC is a very serious illness, but it is beatable. God has been good to me and I'm praying I will continue being desease free.
You will hear from a lot of people in all stages and some great caregivers with a lot of good information for you. Hope you will continue to let us know your husbands progress. We all care and offer up prayers for him,
Sandra

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Curts gal

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Out look promising
I loved hearing from you. Everything I hear and read is 1 - 3 year survival rate. We have the same plan as you. We are in Texas and are being cared for at Cancer Treatment Research Center in San Antonio. We live 15 mins away from the office.