Throat Cancer 18 years ago now Esophageal Cancer

cstrickland14

Hi All,

 

My 75 year old dad had throat cancer 18 years ago treated solely with radiation.  He was diagnosed with Esophageal cancer the Thursday before Christmas.  He started a 6 week course of chemo with Carboplatin (Paraplatin) and Paclitaxel (Taxol) weekly and 6 weeks of radiation daily. However, since he already received a high dose of radiation on his throat, he can't get the full treatment dose now.  He and my mom live in New Orleans while I live in Denver.  I was there with them the first week and will be going back for the final week. I haven't talked to the doctors myself but I'm told prognosis isn't good.   He has done suprisingly well with the treatments so far with no real side effects yet other than being tired.  At least, that's what my mom has told me .  He's still eating pretty well, which is what we were most concerned with after his first bout with cancer.  Surgery has been recommended though we are not convinced yet that is the way to go given his age and what we have all read about how hard the surgery is and the long-term effects of the surgery.  

 

Has anyone had experience with cancer returning decades later in the same area already treated?  

Thank you!

paul61

The longest term recurrence I had heard of was 9 years

Hello,

I am so sorry to hear of your Dad's recurrence. 18 years is a long time from initial diagnosis to recurrences. I am sure when the initial results came back your parents said to their oncologist, "Are your sure??"

Although I have not heard of a recurrence that far out from treatment, I have heard of many esophageal cancer survivors having successful minimally invasive esophagectomies in their seventies. Assuming your Dad does not have any other significant health issues; like cardiac, pulmonary, or diabetic issues I would certainly investigate the possibility.

Of course, finding the right surgeon and the right after care facility is VERY important. I would suggest a surgeon that does MANY of these surgeries at an university based teaching facility with an after care floor that is dedicated to at least thoracic surgery, and ideally esophagectomy surgery.

Best Regards,

Paul Adams

McCormick, South Carolina

DX 10/2009 T2N1M0  Stage IIB - Ivor Lewis Surgery  12/3/2009
Post Surgery Chemotherapy 2/2009 – 6/2009 Cisplatin, Epirubicin, 5 FU
Eight Year Survivor

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

 

CancerEclipse

Info on fighting cancer in our 70's

Hi. I'm 74 and fought esophageal cancer for 3 years and then had the operation. One tactic I used was food to some success. And there are a lot of reports out there where how we eat, juice, etc. makes a difference in survival, as well as immune strength for taking on the medical treatment hits. I've written a lot of this down in a book. Let me know if you are interested in how I did this and I'll send you the url.  <Content Removed by CSN Support Team>

DG