does a 73 years old person sustain surgery to remove tumor?

anaqvi

As I said in my last post that my daddy has been diagnosed with Adenocarcinoma that has spread through his stomach and esophagus. He is 73 years old, he does not not know about his disease, he has dreams and plans for future, thinking that he will recover completely. this is really painful for us. Oncologist said he may has 6 month's more to be with us (without treatment) and 1 year (if he gets treatment). No... no we are not ready to accept these bitter words. I wish everything every word 'ld only be a worst dream and we all wake up.
Please someone guide me that how his rest of the life will proceed, means what will be his condition or step by step everyday.

Ahhh! why this beast comes in our life. We cannot see loosing our loved ones this way.

Anaqvi

Unknown

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

Guigna

your father
some one had better tell your father what's going on. This will give him a chance to clean up his affairs, say good bye, make a will. It's not fair to not tell him.
I am sorry he has this horrible cancer.

anaqvi

unknown said:

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

he has T3N1M0
Hi Sherri,

Thanks for your precious time and reply.
My daddy's cancer has been staged as T3N1M0. Oncologist suggested to operate and remove his tumor. Then he suggested some tests before undergoing the surgery, and every effort went to end when his heart's ECHO shows ET 35%. Yesterday dr said if with this heart condition we go for surgery he will die right on the operation table, his heart is so weak.
Then we ask that what if we go for chemotherapy, he said no sorry at the age of 73, with this stage of cancer chemo will not work. or may be we will loose him after even single cycle of chemotherapy.
In other words he said that we are on a stage where no cure is possible.
Daddy can swallow only liquids. juices etc. So the doctor said go and plan to put stent enabling him to take his diet as long as possible.
We lost all the hopes. and if we tell him (daddy) that has this beast in him, and with this critical stage, we know he will lost his hope and will power. Therefore we did not tell him about his disease. I know, we know this is rather unfair. But we do not want to give him mental stress.
Can someone please tell me that how the stent is put and is it painful?
I hope above information clearly states his cancer stage, now please tell me how will his condition and health go day by day? we want to prepare ourselves that what we are going to see.. we do not want to see him in pain. He is so sweet, kind and humble...No no we do not want to loose him.
We want to make every effort for his comfort and ease till his last breath

Anaqvi

anaqvi

Guigna said:

your father
some one had better tell your father what's going on. This will give him a chance to clean up his affairs, say good bye, make a will. It's not fair to not tell him.
I am sorry he has this horrible cancer.

Not easy to welcome the death
We did not tell daddy about his cancer because we know that he will loose his hope for his life and once he loose hope his rest of the life will be in more pain, he will be mentally stressed as well as physical pains and discomfort.
Where is the medical science there is no advancement, there is no cure. Dammit this medical science that cannot cure a cancer.
I am sorry for my words but i am very much disturbed, why this beast silently spread through my daddy's body. Its hard to bear.

Anaqvi

AngieD

anaqvi said:

Not easy to welcome the death
We did not tell daddy about his cancer because we know that he will loose his hope for his life and once he loose hope his rest of the life will be in more pain, he will be mentally stressed as well as physical pains and discomfort.
Where is the medical science there is no advancement, there is no cure. Dammit this medical science that cannot cure a cancer.
I am sorry for my words but i am very much disturbed, why this beast silently spread through my daddy's body. Its hard to bear.

Anaqvi

Anaqvi, I am so sorry to
Anaqvi, I am so sorry to hear about your Daddy and that you have to be here.

You asked for our thoughts, so here are mine. My husband was diagnosed a little over a year ago with Stage IV EC and is the same age as your father. He had chemo from last July through Dec and tolerated it well. In Jan we found he had a heart condition (no previous history) with a 30% Ejection Fraction. (But he had handled the chemo just fine.) He had quadruple bypass surgery, sailed through it, had cardiac rehab, and started a new chemo regimen in March. So, I'm wondering if your family has gotten a second opinion on options for your dad.

Also, it IS your Daddy's cancer and his life. I feel that he has a right to make the decisions on his treatment/no treatment options and how he chooses to handle the information.

A doctor, whatever he may think, is not God and can not tell you how long your Daddy has to live. Everyone is a statistic of one.

We have had no experience with stents as my husband has had no problem swallowing since his first round of chemo. However, most people here do not recommend stents, but think a feeding tube (J tube, I believe) is so important to provide good nutrition to enable the body to fight the cancer.

I will be praying for good choices and good outcomes for your Dad and you and your family.

Angie

anaqvi

AngieD said:

Anaqvi, I am so sorry to
Anaqvi, I am so sorry to hear about your Daddy and that you have to be here.

You asked for our thoughts, so here are mine. My husband was diagnosed a little over a year ago with Stage IV EC and is the same age as your father. He had chemo from last July through Dec and tolerated it well. In Jan we found he had a heart condition (no previous history) with a 30% Ejection Fraction. (But he had handled the chemo just fine.) He had quadruple bypass surgery, sailed through it, had cardiac rehab, and started a new chemo regimen in March. So, I'm wondering if your family has gotten a second opinion on options for your dad.

Also, it IS your Daddy's cancer and his life. I feel that he has a right to make the decisions on his treatment/no treatment options and how he chooses to handle the information.

A doctor, whatever he may think, is not God and can not tell you how long your Daddy has to live. Everyone is a statistic of one.

We have had no experience with stents as my husband has had no problem swallowing since his first round of chemo. However, most people here do not recommend stents, but think a feeding tube (J tube, I believe) is so important to provide good nutrition to enable the body to fight the cancer.

I will be praying for good choices and good outcomes for your Dad and you and your family.

Angie

what will work chemo/surgery?
Thanks Angie for guiding me. pleased to know that your husband got good results through chemo therapy. May God bless him and all with best of health and life.
Please tell me why doctors didn't remove your husband's tumor through surgery? and after chemotherapy does his tumor shrinks? or stop spreading through?
I do not know why doctor refused any further treatment in my daddy's case but your case encouraged me to go for another opinion. we have received two doctors' opinion, one senior oncologist said he is neither a candidate for surgery nor for chemotherapy. other doctor said he is not candidate for chemo therapy but surgery may work to remove his tumor.
Now we are confused what to do? Definitely we wish to bring best for him.
Please give your comments and I request everyone to share what so ever information they have about it and to guide us.

Anaqvi

Ladylacy

anaqvi said:

what will work chemo/surgery?
Thanks Angie for guiding me. pleased to know that your husband got good results through chemo therapy. May God bless him and all with best of health and life.
Please tell me why doctors didn't remove your husband's tumor through surgery? and after chemotherapy does his tumor shrinks? or stop spreading through?
I do not know why doctor refused any further treatment in my daddy's case but your case encouraged me to go for another opinion. we have received two doctors' opinion, one senior oncologist said he is neither a candidate for surgery nor for chemotherapy. other doctor said he is not candidate for chemo therapy but surgery may work to remove his tumor.
Now we are confused what to do? Definitely we wish to bring best for him.
Please give your comments and I request everyone to share what so ever information they have about it and to guide us.

Anaqvi

Your father
My husband is 75 and underwent chemo/radiation in 2010 for laryngeal cancer, then surgery in March 2011 to have his voicebox removed and reconstruction of the back of his throat due to the radiation. Then in April 2012 we found out he had cancer at the cervical of his esophagus (from what I have read this is a rare spot for cancer). Our doctors recommended chemo/radiation and just told us that this surgery is very complicated and hard with many complications. We are lucky because the PET/CT scan showed no advacement of the cancer. He is finishing up this week his chemo (7 rounds) and 35 radiation treatments and is doing fairly well. He has a feeding tube, called a PEG tube. It comes out thru his stomach and he is able to get his nourishment thru it.

Chemo/radiation is also very hard and since your father has heart troubles, this would also be very hard on him. A second opinion is needed. You should also tell your Dad about his condition. All decisions should be his. I told our sons that all decisions regarding treatment would be up to their dad and I didn't want them interferring with his decisions on treatment. It is hard, don't get me wrong. I want him around for a long time yet, but still I want what is best for him. Quality of time is important and I would rather have him active and enjoying what time he has left compared to not being able to enjoy what time he has left. I hope this makes sense. We have been married for 50 years at the end of August so it is hard, but still his decision as to treatment.

During his treatment, we have met many wonderful people and all have different stories and different outcomes. I know my Aunt fought EC cancer for almost 4 years and lost her battle this past October at 74. She had the surgery and underwent many rounds of chemo/radiation during her battle but at the last she said no more. It was just too hard and she had a feeding tube the whole time because she was unable to eat much during her battle.

Wishing you and your father the best -- Sharon

Unknown

anaqvi said:

he has T3N1M0
Hi Sherri,

Thanks for your precious time and reply.
My daddy's cancer has been staged as T3N1M0. Oncologist suggested to operate and remove his tumor. Then he suggested some tests before undergoing the surgery, and every effort went to end when his heart's ECHO shows ET 35%. Yesterday dr said if with this heart condition we go for surgery he will die right on the operation table, his heart is so weak.
Then we ask that what if we go for chemotherapy, he said no sorry at the age of 73, with this stage of cancer chemo will not work. or may be we will loose him after even single cycle of chemotherapy.
In other words he said that we are on a stage where no cure is possible.
Daddy can swallow only liquids. juices etc. So the doctor said go and plan to put stent enabling him to take his diet as long as possible.
We lost all the hopes. and if we tell him (daddy) that has this beast in him, and with this critical stage, we know he will lost his hope and will power. Therefore we did not tell him about his disease. I know, we know this is rather unfair. But we do not want to give him mental stress.
Can someone please tell me that how the stent is put and is it painful?
I hope above information clearly states his cancer stage, now please tell me how will his condition and health go day by day? we want to prepare ourselves that what we are going to see.. we do not want to see him in pain. He is so sweet, kind and humble...No no we do not want to loose him.
We want to make every effort for his comfort and ease till his last breath

Anaqvi

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

AngieD

Ladylacy said:

Your father
My husband is 75 and underwent chemo/radiation in 2010 for laryngeal cancer, then surgery in March 2011 to have his voicebox removed and reconstruction of the back of his throat due to the radiation. Then in April 2012 we found out he had cancer at the cervical of his esophagus (from what I have read this is a rare spot for cancer). Our doctors recommended chemo/radiation and just told us that this surgery is very complicated and hard with many complications. We are lucky because the PET/CT scan showed no advacement of the cancer. He is finishing up this week his chemo (7 rounds) and 35 radiation treatments and is doing fairly well. He has a feeding tube, called a PEG tube. It comes out thru his stomach and he is able to get his nourishment thru it.

Chemo/radiation is also very hard and since your father has heart troubles, this would also be very hard on him. A second opinion is needed. You should also tell your Dad about his condition. All decisions should be his. I told our sons that all decisions regarding treatment would be up to their dad and I didn't want them interferring with his decisions on treatment. It is hard, don't get me wrong. I want him around for a long time yet, but still I want what is best for him. Quality of time is important and I would rather have him active and enjoying what time he has left compared to not being able to enjoy what time he has left. I hope this makes sense. We have been married for 50 years at the end of August so it is hard, but still his decision as to treatment.

During his treatment, we have met many wonderful people and all have different stories and different outcomes. I know my Aunt fought EC cancer for almost 4 years and lost her battle this past October at 74. She had the surgery and underwent many rounds of chemo/radiation during her battle but at the last she said no more. It was just too hard and she had a feeding tube the whole time because she was unable to eat much during her battle.

Wishing you and your father the best -- Sharon

My husband was diagnosed as
My husband was diagnosed as Stage IV with supraclavicular lymph nodes distant from the tumor involved. Surgery is not an option for Stage IV's. Chemo has resulted in his cancer no longer detected in the original tumor site and lymph nodes have shrunk dramatically.

As far as what to expect, really no one knows with this cancer. Some who are originally Stage 3 or less, have chemo, radiation, and surgery and are fine for many years, like William. Others are diagnosed and treated exactly the same and after the surgery have the EC return fairly soon. These are then treated again with chemo and/or radiation. Some die fairy soon and others continue treatment for quite a while. Some Stage IV's die rather soon after diagnosis and others are living for 6-8 years. It's a beast and there are no guarantees or any clear reasons why it goes different ways in different people.

I'm praying for your Daddy, you, and the rest of your family and hoping you find a medical team that can offer a choice that all of you can feel is the best choice and hope for the longest life of the highest quality.

Keep us posted on how it's going and if you have any other questions.

Angie