Why isn't surgery offered to Stage4 patients

I personally only know of
I personally only know of one stage IV who has had surgery and that is my cousin. In fact I just saw him yesterday and we were talking about our surgeries and our surgeon. Any way, he had his surgery I believe six years ago and is doing well. His surgery was performed at the VA hospital in Seattle by University of Washington Surgeon Mike Mulligan. Now I can speak of Dr. Mulligan's skill as he was also my surgeon. He is in my opinion a rock star! There are surgeons out there who will operate on stage IV EC patients although I'm sure they have a very specific criteria on who is a surgical candidate at stage IV.

Dave

My husband has stage 4 and Sloane would not operate
He has since had additional chemo and still is taking xeloda.
His last PET scan showed no more mets in the liver and the tumor in the esophagus has shrunk. he still has a bit of trouble swallowing at times but usually eats ok.

Cryotherapy and Varian Radiation
Hi Bill, I rarely post here, but try to keep up with the people that I know and care about who DO post here. After reading your post, I thought I might have information that might be helpful to you.

My husband was a stage 4 patient (dx in 2007), and he survived 2 years longer than the doctors predicted. At his request, they agreed to administer cryotherapy and a special kind of radiation (Varian Trilogy) to reduce his tumor, so that he could eat.

He had both therapies at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, with good results. He was able to eat and enjoy a good quality of life after these treatments. His radiation was a new delivery system, it is called Varian trilogy, here is a link:

http://www.cancercenter.com/video/treatments-technology/varian-trilogy

If you Google cryotherapy esophageal cancer, you'll get a wealth of information.

I hope this information helps you, my heart goes out to you and your family.

unknown said:

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

stopping chemo
William is so very right!! Before you decide anything about chemo, get a jtube put in. This may seem like an icky thing to to, but trust me, and the others who've had experience with it. Your energy levels and overall feeling of well being will improve. You will tolerate treatment better. We had to fight tooth and nail to get one in, but being a blabbermouth persistent nag finally got us one! Thanks of course to the people here who counselled us and told us more than our doctors ever did.

As for chemo, I am Chantal, wife of LeeinLondon that William mentioned above. He was affected horribly by chemo, and his life during treatment was miserable. Once he finally decided to stop chemo it was too late for quality. Of course, this is not the case for everyone, people seem to tolerate it differently for whatever reason. I have not updated my 'about me' page recently, but it may be a bit more informative than Lee's as far as his treatment plan. Up until our dear friend Chemosmoker came along discussing his choice not to have any chemo ever, we did not even consider it as an option. Now, in retrospect, I wish that Lee had made that same choice. He passed away in November, at the age of 49. He may have been afforded some quality time had he chosen no chemo. In his case, he got neither quality or quantity. From what we know of Eric (chemosmoker) he had about the same life span as Lee, but far more quality. It's completely a personal decision, and everyone handles the drug differently.

And finally, about surgery, we were told pretty much exactly what TerryV said. Even if they were to remove the esophagus the cancer is still going to be there, in the case of a stage iv. They don't see much point performing surgery if they can't remove all of the cancer. In your case, as with my husband as well, it had spread too distantly.

I have not posted here very often since I lost Lee, I have been trying to read most of the posts, but it's just so hard having to re-live this nightmare over and over again. Please know, I think of all of you often and pray that you all will beat this, and move on to better days.

be well my dear friends,
Chantal

Daisylin said:

stopping chemo
William is so very right!! Before you decide anything about chemo, get a jtube put in. This may seem like an icky thing to to, but trust me, and the others who've had experience with it. Your energy levels and overall feeling of well being will improve. You will tolerate treatment better. We had to fight tooth and nail to get one in, but being a blabbermouth persistent nag finally got us one! Thanks of course to the people here who counselled us and told us more than our doctors ever did.

As for chemo, I am Chantal, wife of LeeinLondon that William mentioned above. He was affected horribly by chemo, and his life during treatment was miserable. Once he finally decided to stop chemo it was too late for quality. Of course, this is not the case for everyone, people seem to tolerate it differently for whatever reason. I have not updated my 'about me' page recently, but it may be a bit more informative than Lee's as far as his treatment plan. Up until our dear friend Chemosmoker came along discussing his choice not to have any chemo ever, we did not even consider it as an option. Now, in retrospect, I wish that Lee had made that same choice. He passed away in November, at the age of 49. He may have been afforded some quality time had he chosen no chemo. In his case, he got neither quality or quantity. From what we know of Eric (chemosmoker) he had about the same life span as Lee, but far more quality. It's completely a personal decision, and everyone handles the drug differently.

And finally, about surgery, we were told pretty much exactly what TerryV said. Even if they were to remove the esophagus the cancer is still going to be there, in the case of a stage iv. They don't see much point performing surgery if they can't remove all of the cancer. In your case, as with my husband as well, it had spread too distantly.

I have not posted here very often since I lost Lee, I have been trying to read most of the posts, but it's just so hard having to re-live this nightmare over and over again. Please know, I think of all of you often and pray that you all will beat this, and move on to better days.

be well my dear friends,
Chantal

Hugs to you, Chantal!
Just want you to know that I think of you often and hope you are well. I even replay your wedding video every now and then. What a beautiful piece of your lives that Lee shared with us when posting that link! And the talent he had - WOW! You must be so greatful that he put such a beautiful video together for you to hold those wonderful memories close.

You both brightened my life. Thank you!

Love and many, many hugs!

Terry

cherseg said:

Hi "Kids"
Since you are both so young at heart, I MUST call you "kids"!!!

Hope all is well, think of you so often and so delighted William is doing so great! I still read the posts here, my heart breaks for all the new folks, because I know where they are coming from and where they are going. If I think I can help, I'll add a post. Big Hugs to you both, Cheryl

This post was meant for Bill and Loretta
Apologies for not adding that.

unknown said:

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

William, As I had mentioned
William, As I had mentioned in a post on this thread I have a cousin that is going on over six years after being diagnosed stage IV and having surgery here in Seattle. I don't know all of the particulars of his case but do know that he is doing well and saw him this past Sunday at my mothers wedding reception. He had a very talented surgeon and I'm sure a highly unusual and probably unique case but, none the less he was operable and had a very successful out come. He is the only stage IV that I've heard of being a surgical candidate and having such longevity after being diagnosed stage IV.

I will try to get more information from him on his particular circumstances if you would like more information/details.

Keep up the good work,

Dave

Amjosmom said:

I'm curious...
William, who has the longest Stage IV survival rate that you have seen here? You have been here the longest and I'm curious to see what the longest some have survived. You said that Cherseg had the husband with the longest survival time here. Are there others? I hope with the others that post here that we can come up with a common... SOMETHING... that works for everyone. There has to be something to improve their chances, right? I know that EC affects everyone differently, but there has to be ONE thing they share that can help. All the side effects seem to be the same when dealing with neuropathy, and stomach pain, and weakness... so I come EVERY SINGLE DAY here sometimes 2-3 times a day looking for posts that I can relate to with my Dad, and I just am holding out hope and praying that we find a way... a way to reverse the disease! It has to be possible. With so many minds of docs, patients, caregivers, observers, friends, lookyloos... there has to be SOMETHING.


Am I crazy?