Questions to ask after EUS

SheriC

I posted here a few weeks ago about my mother, who was recently diagnosed with esophageal cancer.  She has had all of the recommended scans and also had an endoscopic ultrasound at a hospital about an hour away from her house, which staged her cancer at T2N1M0.  However, she has decided to have her treatment at Duke University instead of the more local hospital and is undergoing another EUS tomorrow at Duke.   Understandably, they prefer to perform their own EUS rather than rely on one done at another hospital.  I’m hoping and praying that they don’t find evidence of more cancer, although I’m aware that may be a possibility.  I have a running list of questions to ask the surgeon, chemoradiologist, oncologist, etc. and I am constantly adding onto this list.  But I would like to know if any of ya’ll have suggestions for helpful questions that I should ask the gastroenterologist tomorrow after the procedure.  I want to make sure we get as much information as possible.   Any suggestions or information you guys could provide would be helpful.  

paul61

Ask about tumor penetration in the esophagus and lymph nodes

As I am sure you know; the purpose of the EUS is to evaluate how many layers of the esophagus the cancer has penetrated, and to image the surrounding lymph nodes and organs to determine if they show any indications of cancer.

Questions I would ask include:

 

1.  How far into the esophagus has the cancer penetrated?

•  Mucosa (surface layer)
• Sub-mucosa (lower surface layer)
• muscularis (middle layer)
• adventitia (outer connective tissue)

1. Does the image indicate any surrounding lymph node involvement?
2. Does the image indicate any abnormalities in the stomach or lower digestive tract?
3. Does the image indicate any other organ involvement?
4. Does the EUS indicate any modification of my mother’s initial staging?

The EUS is one of many tools used to complete accurate staging prior to definition of a treatment plan and is used in conjunction with CT and CT/PET scans to search for metastasis in the body.

Your mother’s choice to seek treatment at Duke rather than using a local cancer center is a good idea. Duke has an excellent reputation as a center of excellence for treatment of esophageal cancer.

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!