Pins and needles - results

paul61 said:

I know several people who have had successful treatment
I am sorry to hear that the results of your biopsy were not what we hoped. I know several people who have had a recurrence in the lymph nodes in their neck and had successful chemotherapy and/or surgery and are now NED again. One of our members, Joel C, had a recurrence in his Paratracheal lymph node and he went on to have treatment and surgery and is doing well.

I know this is devastating to hear, I think all of us who are survivors live in fear of this kind of recurrence. Try to stay positive. I am glad your appointment with your oncologist is soon and hopefully you can get the scan results quickly and get a treatment plan defined.

You will be in my prayers,


Best Regards,

Paul Adams
Grand Blanc, Michigan

DX 10/22/2009 T2N1M0 Stage IIB
12/03/2009 Ivor Lewis
2/8 through 6/14/2010 Adjuvant Chemo Cisplatin, Epirubicin, 5 FU
Two year survivor

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

Good information
Thanks Paul for the good information. The chance that there is still opportunity to fight is encouraging.

We, too, have him in our prayers.

I'm sorry to hear the latest
I'm sorry to hear the latest setback, but so glad for Paul's positive post. I know you are devastated. As a survivor this is always in the back of my mind.
Will be praying for good results for the pet scan.
Sandra

Hi Josie.
I, too, had a
Hi Josie.

I, too, had a recurrence to a left paratrachial lymph node which showed up in my six month scan post surgery (MIE 1/2012). On 9/5/2012 I had that node removed, along with a pretty intense dissection of the neck in which 15 addittional nodes were removed (all tested negated for EC except the one they knew of). Both surgeries were performed at Brigham & Women's hospital in Boston.

I am meeting with oncologist and radiation oncologist at Dana Farber Cancer Center next week for how to proceed as my surgeon is adamant I undergo intense chemo AND radiation of the neck, whereas my local doctors think radiation may do more harm than good. In my case I really have faith in my surgeon, Dr. Raphael Bueno, as he has much experience with EC.

I am a 47 year old female in good physical condition so I will be as aggressive as my doctors will allow. You may want to ask for another opinion if your doctors don't offer aggressive treatment.

I am sorry to hear that your biopsy came back positive but on the upside the nodes are localized! I am sending all my prayers and positive energy your way. Please keep us posted.

Be well,

Shelly

Josie60 said:

Follow uo info
The biopsy was Sept 20. A pet scan on Sept 25 indicates 5 lymph nodes in the left clavical lighting up. They also saw additional shadows on the lungs that weren't there in March, but they aren't lighting up so I am hoping its nothing serious.

The local oncologist is suggesting 5EC ( 5FU/ Cisplatin/ Epirbician) combination as an outpatient. I wanted a second opinion from the Univeersity of Iowa Oncology center because in March that oncologist suggested in patient treatment for the same combination, so I wanted to see what they said now. That is scheduled for this coming monday.I am getting nervous about the 3 weeks that has passed between the biopsy and the potential start of chemo. I did finally have a brain storm- since either location will probably require a port for the 5FU, I got that scheduled to be installed next Tuesday so maybe I can get the chemo started yet next week.

Good for you for getting the
Good for you for getting the second opinion from the Oncology Center and for thinking to get your port installed. No disrespect to your oncologist, but it seems that they should have been on top of that.

I can tell from the tone of your message that you feel more upbeat and positive. Being proactive has a lot to do with this. Stay strong and positive and I am sending positive enegy your way.

Keep being positive!

Shelly

Josie60 said:

Finally getting the chemo started
I'll be starting a fairly aggressive chemo regime on Monday,3 weeks after the biopsy. I will start with cisplatin. And then 96 hour infusion of 5 FU. Since there is a small chance that they may radiate some of the nodes later we are going to wait on the Epirubcin. Then repeat again in about 4 weeks. My biggest concern is the nausea and dehydration. But the oncologist says if it gets bad he will put me in the hospital. I'm hoping we will have good results and get this knocked out of my system

Talk to your oncologist about IV hydration
I was on the same regimen after my surgery. I found that if I received an infusion on Monday I was very quickly dehydrated a couple of days later. After a few cycles I found that if I went in for IV hydration on Wednesday of the week I received an infusion I felt much better. I also found Emend to be very helpful for nausea.

Best Regards,

Paul Adams
McCormick, South Carolina

DX 10/22/2009 T2N1M0 Stage IIB
12/03/2009 Ivor Lewis
2/8 through 6/14/2010 Adjuvant Chemo Cisplatin, Epirubicin, 5 FU
Two year survivor

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