Hi Everyone

Sally.L

Hi everyone.

This is my first post, I have been watching you all for a while now. I’ve silently shed tears for you and rejoiced with you and finally decided it was time to make my presence known. I’m a spouse of stage 3, diagnosed May 1st. We have less than week of chemo/radiation left, then wait for the PET scan and hopefully schedule surgery for later this summer.

I must say, you are a courageous bunch people and I hope that I can rise to (or at least come close to) the level of class, character and grace that I have witnessed here. Everyone of you are an inspiration to me, whether the news is good or bad and even right to the very end. Reading your posts has helped me try to come to terms with this dreadful monster disease. While I won’t say that I’ve actually come to terms, I just know that I have to do whatever is necessary and I think I’m up for the challenge. So I guess I just want to say thanks.

Sally, wife of Paul
Fighting the EC fight with everything we’ve got

paul61

Welcome to our little EC family
Sally,

Welcome to the group that nobody really wants a reason to join. It sounds like you are well along in your treatment plan. I hope Paul is having manageable side effects. If you have been reading for a while you probably know there are a number of different surgical approaches depending on your surgeon's preference and your final staging analysis.

Of course you want to find a surgeon that does many esophagectomies a year that practices in a facility that has lots of experience in dealing with the complex aftercare issues that come with a complicated surgery. Depending on what part of the country you are from we can probably make some suggestions about surgeons and facilities.

Hope all continues to go well.

Best Regards,

Paul Adams
Grand Blanc, Michigan

DX 10/22/2009 T2N1M0 Stage IIB
12/03/2009 Ivor Lewis
2/8 through 6/14/2010 Adjuvant Chemo Cisplatin, Epirubicin, 5 FU
Two year survivor

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance!

Unknown

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Bermudagirl

unknown said:

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Hi Sally
Yes, welcome. I am brand new here as well. Heck a mere 3 weeks ago this was not even a possibility to me, and here we are now knee deep in EC! Funny how life throws you curve balls, but you just have to deal with them, don't you?

I'd love to commiserate with you and share things along the way if you'd like. I'm in the Baltimore area, so Dave most likely will be treated at Hopkins. We see the team there on Wednesday, still awaiting an appointment time and getting a PET scheduled.

I hope that you and your husband Paul are doing as well as can be expected, and I am sending good wishes your way.

Sandy

sandy1943

Sally, Welcome, I'm glad you
Sally, Welcome, I'm glad you finally decided to join us instead of just looking on. I was also stage three and I'm still cancer free after 4 1/2 years. The fight is a long, hard one, but the end result is worth the fight.
Prayers, Sandra

mrsbotch

Sally and Paul
This is quite
Sally and Paul

This is quite a journey you are entering but just know that all of us here know how you are feeling and everyone
Will give you the best advise and help that we know.
You have joined a remarkable group of people who never in their wildest dreams thought of being in this place.
Sally please make sure you take care of yourself too because being a caretaker for the person you love the most
can be very difficult at times. It is also a very rewarding experience.

Let us know what the PET SCAN reads.

Barbara

captdave

Sally, Welcome to this
Sally, Welcome to this amazing group. The people here are inspirational. Be they the EC patients or the care givers. I'm glad you decided to join the conversation and share Paul's situation with us. Seven months ago I was fat, dumb and, happy. Now I'm skinny, cancer free and happier then I've ever been. As William and Paul said, the members of this board have had every type of esophagectamie and can offer advice on what to expect how to prepare and the best surgeons and hospitals for each type of procedure. Take advantage of the hard earned knowledge and information available here. Paul is fortunate to be a surgical candidate. One thing that I know helped me prior to my surgery in January was to get in the best possible physical condition I could. Cardiovascular conditioning is especially helpful for the type of surgery Paul is facing.

Best wishes and look forward to hearing more from you as you and Paul move forward.

Dave

Sally.L

Thank you
Thanks for the warm welcome. Before I start, I have to tell you that my dear husband felt compelled to keep this from me and handle it himself in the beginning. I actually had to have a pretty good argument with him just to get him to agree to allow me to go to his initial consultations at the cancer center. That being said, here’s what we got:

They told us stage 3, squamous cell carcinoma. The tumor is in the lower and mid section of the esophagus. The biopsies of the liver, kidney, lungs, lymph nodes and trachea all were negative. He started on Carpoplatin and Paclitaxel – 5 treatments that were suppose to be over 5 weeks. The last two weeks they wouldn’t give him the final treatment because his blood platelets were too low. He was scheduled for 28 radiation treatments – he will have # 27 tomorrow and hopefully #28 along with the last chemo treatment on Tuesday.

We live in the Midwest; we are currently using Indiana University Cancer Center in Goshen, Indiana. The facility is highly regarded and so far we have nothing but good things to say about it. Paul has 3 doctors looking after him and a dietician along with all the other wonderful people there. His surgeon is Dr Leonard Henry. Esophageal cancer is one of his specialties although I have not asked how many esophagectomies he performs on a regular basis but that question is on my list for the next appointment.

Paul has lost about 40 pounds and has mostly stopped eating. Over Memorial Day weekend, he had a J-tube put in and that has made a major difference in his attitude and overall well being. He is not having bad side effects. A little nausea at times, but the drug for that seems to work. The PET scan is scheduled for July 20.

Ginny_B

Welcome!
I hate to say it but welcome to this wonderful group! I learned so much from this forum - I would venture to say that I learned more HERE than from docs! I filled myself with questions that I heard here and asked docs when we saw them. This is a great place for help, answers, comfort, grief, and getting thru life with EC.