My Dad's Recurrence of Squamous EC (1st occurence=6/2011, 2nd=12/2012)

TJ1972
TJ1972 Member Posts: 1
in Esophageal Cancer #1

Hello,

My dad is 68 yrs old.  He was diagnosed squamous cell cancer (in situ, I believe) 6/2011.  He was treated at MDAnderson, Houston, TX with chemo and radiation from mid June 2011 until early Aug 2011.  The tumor went away and all seemed good until his last routine follow-up appt in Dec 2012.  While there doesn't appear to be a tumor, a biopsy of the tissue where the tumor resided previously came back with the same type of cancer he was treated for in 2011.  As far as we know, the cancer has not spread.  He does have Barrett's esophagus which is being monitored.

We met with his doctor at MDAnderson today who described the new cancer as being "fragments" and "superficial".  They are hopeful that ablation is a viable option to rid him of the cancer this go round.  Trying to avoid surgery as he would surely lose his voicebox and from what I understand, because the breastbone is in the way, his surgery would not be an easy one.  His doctor is going to discuss his case with the doctor who performs the ablation procedure to confirm she is in agreement that he is a good candidate for this treatment option and get back to us before the end of this week.

I am wondering if anyone else on this board has had a similar situation / treatment and how it turned out in the long run.

I am going to be candid here... My father does not have the best habits.  While he hasn't smoked in years, he is a HEAVY beer drinker.  I realize this is not good for his situation and am concerned that the cancer will continue to reoccur if he doesn't stop the drinking.  Unfortunately there seems to be no changing his behavior.  Kinda feel like we are just prolonging the inevitable... quite frustrated with the situation. 

TJ 

Comments

  • oriontj
    oriontj Member Posts: 375
    #2
    Squamous coming back

    My husband also had squamous cancer diagnosed July 2009. Here's his story.

    Chemo..clinical trial drug, two others radiation. December 2009 NED. December 2010 it was back and they beat it back again. With this came really severe neurophy.  And they monitored him...he was at the u of Chicago. We were told it was contained and hadn't spread. By this time moving around was tough.

    In the fall of 2012 it was apparent something was happening. He lost weight. was in and out of the hospital. Finally agreed to a feeding tube which did him little good. He passed away last Friday evening.

    But aside from the last 5-6 months his quality of life was good.

    Hopefully they will be able to stop the cancer. Squamous never goes away it just hides and makes a comeback.

Discussion Boards