Question post surgery and pallative chemo and radiation

pam716
pam716 Member Posts: 24
in Esophageal Cancer #1
My Father had his surgery last Thursday. He had MIE surgery. Recovery is going very well. Only complication so far has been fluid in the lungs which is improving. I have a question about spasms. Is it the stomach that spasms? My dad has been having these and he says that it is involuntary. Will this go away in time? He received his pathology report today while we were not present and there was also cancer found in the lining of the stomach. My brother was present for part of the conversation but he asked that he not tell my mother the results because he wanted to talk to her himself. He discussed with his surgeon options and has declined the option of having his whole stomach removed. He has opted for a plan which includes radiation and chemo. He is 70 years old with other health issues and is aiming for quality of life at this time. Since his cancer will not be considered curable is the amount of chemo and radiation typically given less? Is the chemo and radiation more tolerable for most? It does not make any difference at this point but I am wondering why the cancer in the lining of the stomach did not show on the pet scan and how the lymph nodes appeared clean.

Comments

  • BMGky
    BMGky Member Posts: 621
    #2
    You are asking some very
    You are asking some very difficult questions. As I understand, an operation is usually not done for the esophageal cancer if there are signs of spread elsewhere.

    Do you know what his staging was before the surgery? Did he have pre-op chemo and radiation? Is he at a major cancer center? Please let us know. Surely, there are others on this site that can give you suggestions.

    They will need to know the initial staging and treatment. Please get back to us as soon as you can.

    Best wishes for your family. BMGky
  • pam716
    pam716 Member Posts: 24
    #3
    BMGky said:

    You are asking some very
    You are asking some very difficult questions. As I understand, an operation is usually not done for the esophageal cancer if there are signs of spread elsewhere.

    Do you know what his staging was before the surgery? Did he have pre-op chemo and radiation? Is he at a major cancer center? Please let us know. Surely, there are others on this site that can give you suggestions.

    They will need to know the initial staging and treatment. Please get back to us as soon as you can.

    Best wishes for your family. BMGky

    More info
    Going into the surgery he was staged between a I and II. Pet scan showed no hot spots or nodal involvement. My father has other health issues so since he was on the borderline of the treatment guidelines concerning chemo and radiation pre surgery he did not receive any. He was being treated at a major cancer center( Abbott Northwestern Hospital in MPLS). During surgery tumor was larger than they originally thought and when it was taken to pathology a secondary tumor was discovered. Surgeon said other organs looked clean. Lymph nodes were sent to pathology along with sections from the stomach. Initial splices from the stomach were clean but as they progressed into the lining other invasive cancer was discovered and now the cancer is considered to have originated from the stomach. They are sending him home tomorrow and are going to start chemo and radiation appointments in a couple weeks. He has decided that if he does not tolerate them well he will not continue the treatments. I was just wondering if now that there is not any question of a cure if the chemo and radiation treatments are less powerfull. The surgeon did also comment that if they had known about the secondary tumor that the surgery would not have been done but in some respects I feel lucky that he was able to have it because he will probably be able to eat and the surgery also took care of anemia he was experiencing from the tumor. I did not ask about his current staging because I don't think it matters that much as far as the treatment plan goes
  • lilrusty
    lilrusty Member Posts: 49
    #4
    No Surgery
    Hi Pam my husband was not staged until the day of his MIE surgery. He had pet scan, euc scope, two endoscopes, CT Scan and nothing showed up but the tumor in the junction of his esphagus. Day of surgery they found cancer broke thru stomach wall. They put in port a feeding tube and called it a day. My husband is stage 4 with only chemo offered. We are at a great cancer center with the best doctors in Pittsburgh Pa, but the test dont always pick up cancer cells. We were told they see more once there inside.My husband is taking chemo well. Even at stage 4 hes getting hard core chemo. Miracles do happen. Fatigue is biggest problem now. He just finished 4th round of chemo and had his first CT Scan. We get his results on Weds. Just my story hope it helped.
    Lottas Love & Prayera
    Chrissy
  • pam716
    pam716 Member Posts: 24
    #5
    lilrusty said:

    No Surgery
    Hi Pam my husband was not staged until the day of his MIE surgery. He had pet scan, euc scope, two endoscopes, CT Scan and nothing showed up but the tumor in the junction of his esphagus. Day of surgery they found cancer broke thru stomach wall. They put in port a feeding tube and called it a day. My husband is stage 4 with only chemo offered. We are at a great cancer center with the best doctors in Pittsburgh Pa, but the test dont always pick up cancer cells. We were told they see more once there inside.My husband is taking chemo well. Even at stage 4 hes getting hard core chemo. Miracles do happen. Fatigue is biggest problem now. He just finished 4th round of chemo and had his first CT Scan. We get his results on Weds. Just my story hope it helped.
    Lottas Love & Prayera
    Chrissy

    Chrissy,
    Thanks so much for
    Chrissy,
    Thanks so much for the prayers, I will be thinking and praying for you and your husband as you await your test results. I am so glad your husband is tolerating chemo well. I guess it will just be a case of waiting to see how my father does. We met with the oncologist pre-surgery and have not seen him yet post surgery so hopefully there is some kind of chemo that they can attempt that he also will be able to tolerate

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