HAM6789 and my post-op status

Hey Randy,

Just going back years to see how some of our friends were doing.  I thought of you as I think "Colleeni2" is wondering the same thing.  She is wondering if her husband would fare well with surgery.  Whereas some surgeons might not recommend an Esophagectomy for "older" people, Dr. Luketich makes no distinction if the health permits, and the cancer is operable, then UPMC is the place to be.  I've got many of our personal talks and phone calls on file.  But I thought I would just post this "old" link to let others know that I happen to know that you were 78 when you had your MIE surgery at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center on July 15, 2011.

In this reply to JimboC, you stated that you had the “Ivor Lewis Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy” (aka as the MIE surgery) and that you were doing just fine.  Now it would be an impossibility to “keep up” with all the people we’ve talked with these many years and I know you haven’t posted here in years, but hopefully you are still doing fine at age 84.  Somehow as we grow older, we always like to think that as long as we run around with folks 10 years older, it makes us feel younger.    Ooops did I say “run around?” Well let me rephrase that sentence since neither my husband nor I are “running” these days. I should better have said, “going around!” We have 2 people in our Sunday school class that are “older”.  One is a sweet lady age 92 and in great health.  The only illness she has ever had was a gallbladder operation a couple of years ago.  And there’s a gentleman who is 94 and in good health.  They’re both still able to drive and are fond of helping others, many of whom are much younger than they are!  That’s the way we all wish to be.

I probably won’t receive a response from you, but I, more or less, posted this to let others know that if they’ve been diagnosed with EC, and their present group of doctors are not recommending surgery due strictly to age, that a SECOND opinion is certainly warranted, and we can recommend no one more highly than Dr. James D. Luketich, or any of the thoracic surgeons who have updated their skills to perform the least invasive surgery possible.  Many have updated their skills.  I know that all the surgeries performed at UPMC are totally laparoscopic Esophagectomies.  Reverting to the older OPEN Ivor Lewis Esophagectomy is relatively rare there by comparison. 

Wishing all EC patients the very best,

Loretta (Wife of William, who was DX EC Stage III (T3N1M0), Adenocarcinoma at the Gastroesophageal junction in Nov. of 2002, had pre-op chemo/radiation and then a successful MIE surgery @ UPMC on May 17, 2003)