EFR444 - We wanted to welcome you to our EC family

paul61
paul61 Member Posts: 1,392 Member
in Esophageal Cancer #1
EFR444,

Welcome to our EC support family. We are sorry you find us under these difficult circumstances for your Dad and your family. We wanted to move you to a new posting topic so you would not get lost in another thread.

On Sun, 10/21/2012 - 2:10am you posted:

My father was just diagnosed with T3N3 EC

My father was just diagnosed with EC at the Gastroesophageal Junction. The stage is T3 N3 M0. He just Began his first round of radiation on Mon. He has 4 more weeks left of chemotherapy in conduction with 23 treatments of radiation. If all goes well 6 weeks after he can have the resection. My father is 76 and had only complained about discomfort maybe 6 weeks prior to the diagnosis. He would voice his opinions to his internist and they would just change his mess for reflux. Although my father does have BE. And unfortunately, no one had followed up on the diagnosis or even requested a endoscopy in 7 years. :( regardless of the negligence, we have a plan in action for him and we have been taking it one day at time. This is also not the first time EC has affected my family. My father in law passed away at the age of 62 last year from the same exact cancer right down to the same stage.

I am so sorry that EC has affected your family twice in such a short time. You will find several Stage III survivors here.

I was also diagnosed with EC at the gastroesophageal junction. Like your father I had discussed acid reflux with my primary care physician several times and they just suggested avoiding spicy foods, don't eat late at night before going to bed, take antacids, etc. It is a shame that the medical community is not more alert to the potential for cell damage from acid re-flux that can evolve to cancer. I had surgery, chemotherapy, and am doing well today.

It looks like you Dad is getting the right treatment approach. Where is he receiving treatment?

EC surgery is a complicated surgery so we hope his surgery will be completed at a cancer treatment center that does many of these surgeries each year.

Best Regards,

Paul Adams
McCormick, South Carolina

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!

Comments

  • sandy1943
    sandy1943 Member Posts: 824
    #2
    Welcome, I am a five year
    Welcome, I am a five year survivor of EC T3N2 M0. I Had The IL surgery in May 2008. The road was rough, but except for a few life adjustments everything is pretty much back to normal.
    A lot of us did have problems that our doctors ignored. I never had what I thought was acid reflux but did have a lot of indigestion. I found out the hurting I sometimes had in my back was reflux. My doctor didn't send me to a gastrologists for a scan, until my food hung up.
    We are here for you,
    Sandra
  • EFR444
    EFR444 Member Posts: 2
    #3
    Thank you so much. It is
    Thank you so much. It is very difficult but we are taking it one day at a time. Unfortunately my dad is receiving treatment in a small oncology center. We live in the southeastern corner of California. They seem to be following the same protocol in regards to treatment as the larger hospitals. His surgery will be done by a Dr. Hoargan at Thorton hospital in La Jolla California.
  • Sunshine_50
    Sunshine_50 Member Posts: 10
    #4
    EFR444 said:

    Thank you so much. It is
    Thank you so much. It is very difficult but we are taking it one day at a time. Unfortunately my dad is receiving treatment in a small oncology center. We live in the southeastern corner of California. They seem to be following the same protocol in regards to treatment as the larger hospitals. His surgery will be done by a Dr. Hoargan at Thorton hospital in La Jolla California.

    welcome
    welcome to the club - but none of us want to be here! My dad was diagnosed in may, had chemo and radiation and just had the surgery. its not been an easy few months. but i still think the toughest time mentally was the beginning when were were all scared and had no information. this is a great network. There are other websites and forums out there too - its good to make a few connections as it will help you through the ups and downs.
    one thing that i have seen and read about time and time again - is that if your dad is a candidate for surgery - you must make sure that his hospital and surgeon do this procedure often, and are a good sized cancer centre that understands ec and deals with it all the time. Its an aggressive cancer, a real tricky beast. Now radiation and chemo locally is one thing - you really need that close to home.....but if you are not confident that your surgeon does this alot - please seek a second opinion. its a lot easier to do that BEFORE the surgery than after!
    good luck.....

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