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hopefulsd
hopefulsd Member Posts: 11
in Esophageal Cancer #1
Hi everyone. I've been looking at these boards for a few days now and decided to stop lurking, and actually post something. Our story- my dad was diagnosed with EC on April 11 of this year after having an endoscopy. He had 6 treatments of taxol/carboplatin and 6 weeks of radiation. At first he seemed to tolerate the treatments well but towards the end and for a couple of weeks afterward he was extremely tired. He was sleeping about 18 hours a day and was having pain swallowing, which led to a 20lb weight loss. Another endoscopy determined that he had a fungal infection in his throat, most likely from the rads. Dr. put him on antibiotic and he is now doing much better. So much better that we are golfing together tomorrow. He has surgery scheduled for a week from Thursday with Dr Fabian at Albany Med. Center so we are all trying to be very optimistic. This has been a long few months for us all. On top of the worry and feelings of helplessness, my mother has also had to endure the constant back and forth war with the insurance company (originally surgery was supposed to be at MSKCC, but that didn't sit to well with the insurance company). He had a pet scan on Friday so we are awaiting the results of that to make sure he can go ahead with the surgery.
Now we just pray for the best possible outcome from the surgery.
Everyone on here is so brave and it had been an honor to read all of your stories. Nothing but the best to you all.

Comments

  • hopefulsd
    hopefulsd Member Posts: 11
    #2
    oops...forgot to mention
    Me again. I forgot to mention he is stage 3. T3N1M0. My name is Heather and my dad is Walt. I can't get my computer to let me do the "about me"..??
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #3
    hopefulsd said:

    oops...forgot to mention
    Me again. I forgot to mention he is stage 3. T3N1M0. My name is Heather and my dad is Walt. I can't get my computer to let me do the "about me"..??

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator
  • hopefulsd
    hopefulsd Member Posts: 11
    #4
    unknown said:

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator

    Wlliam, :)
    Thank you so much for the kind words and encouragement. I enjoy reading all of your posts. You truly make me (and I'm sure lots of others) see the silver lining. Yes, we are very pleased so far with Dr. Fabian. We "hand-picked" him after some extensive research and after getting few referrals from Walt's oncologist, a couple (general) thoracic surgeons who had little or no experience with esophageal cancer, much less MIE. Dr. Fabian really sympathized with my dad and was very forthcoming with information regarding the MIE, along with possible complications, length of hospital stay, recovery time....all in all, he spent over an hour with us and I am glad we are making the trip to Albany instead of just settling for a local surgeon. Will stay in touch. Hopefully make some new friends :) Good luck to you on your upcoming scan!
    Heather
  • prettywoman513
    prettywoman513 Member Posts: 20 Member
    #5
    hopefulsd said:

    Wlliam, :)
    Thank you so much for the kind words and encouragement. I enjoy reading all of your posts. You truly make me (and I'm sure lots of others) see the silver lining. Yes, we are very pleased so far with Dr. Fabian. We "hand-picked" him after some extensive research and after getting few referrals from Walt's oncologist, a couple (general) thoracic surgeons who had little or no experience with esophageal cancer, much less MIE. Dr. Fabian really sympathized with my dad and was very forthcoming with information regarding the MIE, along with possible complications, length of hospital stay, recovery time....all in all, he spent over an hour with us and I am glad we are making the trip to Albany instead of just settling for a local surgeon. Will stay in touch. Hopefully make some new friends :) Good luck to you on your upcoming scan!
    Heather

    Just wanted to wish your dad
    Just wanted to wish your dad the best. I will pray for him to make a full recovery. As for this site, you have picked the best. The people on this site are so wonderful, caring and very knowledgeable about this awful beast.
  • hopefulsd
    hopefulsd Member Posts: 11
    #6
    prettywoman513 said:

    Just wanted to wish your dad
    Just wanted to wish your dad the best. I will pray for him to make a full recovery. As for this site, you have picked the best. The people on this site are so wonderful, caring and very knowledgeable about this awful beast.

    Prettywoman~ thank you for
    Prettywoman~ thank you for you well wishes. We will take all the prayers we can get. :)
  • Ginny_B
    Ginny_B Member Posts: 532
    #7
    Heather, keep up the good
    Heather, keep up the good fight and encouragement for your dad. Keep reading here. It helps!
  • poosmom
    poosmom Member Posts: 7
    #8
    I'm new here also and just
    I'm new here also and just trying to get to know everyone and their stories. Welcome.

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