duration after ( CT+RT) and before esophagactomy

vkmunjpara
vkmunjpara Member Posts: 6
in Esophageal Cancer #1

my father had completed CT + RT treatment for his esophagus cancer on 28th march..

we have undergone CT scan on 3rd May. and then PET scan on 12th may.

 

report of PET scan seems good and doctors decided to go for esophagactomy surgery.

 

but doctor who is going to perform surgery is on leave till 02 june due to some circumstances.

so my father's surgery will be taken place on 5th June..

 

so it will be like 9 weeks completed after ( CT+RT) treatment and before surgery.

 

will there any problem for that much of wait??

how long we can wait before surgery..?? what is the general wait time for that..??

 

Thanks in Advance..

 

 

 

Comments

  • Deathorglory
    Deathorglory Member Posts: 364 Member
    #2
    Hello

    Hello,

    Sorry that you find yourself here.  I finished my radiation and initial chemo in late June and had my esophajectomy in mid-September, so about two and a half months.  That sounds like the same ballpark for you guys.  I hope your father has an easy recovery from his surgery.  It is a major one.

    Best Wishes, 

    Ed

  • kbdarnall
    kbdarnall Member Posts: 30
    #3
    "Salvage esophagectomy" article

    MD Anderson group published an article January 2017 http://www.annalscts.com/article/view/14044/14433

    The title is "Salvage esophagectomy for persistent or recurrent disease afterdefinitive chemoradiation" by Stephen G. Swisher, Jenifer Marks, David Rice. 

    I found this article on PubMed website because my husband had a lenghty hospitalization after his last radiation treatment. Surgery could not have been done within the 7-week window because Husband was not physically able to undergo surgery. Last week, his PET-CT scan was clear. He decided to take the "wait and see" approach instead of going forward with surgery immediately.

    My impression is that you need a VERY highly skilled surgeon to perform "salvage" surgery. But there is no bright line between somewhat delayed and too late. But you should read the article yourself. 

    Here's an excerpt from page 2, column 1..... "Salvage esophagectomy for recurrent esophageal cancer after definitive chemoradiation can occur many months or years after treatment when tissue planes are often obscured by post-radiation fibrosis. The deleterious effect of radiation on the microvasculature and tissues can lead to complications in healing and increased esophageal leaks. Because of the potentially increased risks associated with the higher doses of radiation received (>60 Gy) and the prolonged time from the completion of radiation therapy, many surgeons have been reluctant to operate on this group....."

  • vkmunjpara
    vkmunjpara Member Posts: 6
    #4
    Deathorglory said:

    Hello

    Hello,

    Sorry that you find yourself here.  I finished my radiation and initial chemo in late June and had my esophajectomy in mid-September, so about two and a half months.  That sounds like the same ballpark for you guys.  I hope your father has an easy recovery from his surgery.  It is a major one.

    Best Wishes, 

    Ed

    Thank you for sharing your

    Thank you for sharing your experience..

    I hope you had a successful surgery and living cancer free life..

    Thank you so much..

     

  • kbdarnall
    kbdarnall Member Posts: 30
    #5
    vkmunjpara said:

    Thank you for sharing your

    Thank you for sharing your experience..

    I hope you had a successful surgery and living cancer free life..

    Thank you so much..

     

    My husband opted to NOT have

    My husband opted to NOT have the surgery. Last radiation treatment was Feb 20, 2018. PET-CT showed no evidence of cancer anywhere. Inflammation from treatment was all clear. So he will get scans every 3 months. Hopefully he can avoid surgery because it is brutal. There’s probably a 50% chance cancer (”oligometastasis”) could pop up later. But he will fight each battle as it comes. There could be microscopic cancer almost anywhere. But the most likely place for recurrent EC is liver. My husband was T3N0M0 when chemo radiation began last January 1st. Today he feels well and eats anything he want. He will get endoscopy next month.

  • vkmunjpara
    vkmunjpara Member Posts: 6
    #6
    kbdarnall said:

    My husband opted to NOT have

    My husband opted to NOT have the surgery. Last radiation treatment was Feb 20, 2018. PET-CT showed no evidence of cancer anywhere. Inflammation from treatment was all clear. So he will get scans every 3 months. Hopefully he can avoid surgery because it is brutal. There’s probably a 50% chance cancer (”oligometastasis”) could pop up later. But he will fight each battle as it comes. There could be microscopic cancer almost anywhere. But the most likely place for recurrent EC is liver. My husband was T3N0M0 when chemo radiation began last January 1st. Today he feels well and eats anything he want. He will get endoscopy next month.

    Thank you for sharing your

    Thank you for sharing your experience..

     

    and it's good to hear that PET-CT showed no evidence for your husband.. congratulations and all the best..

     

    for my father, it shows that cancer is now only in esophagus and it ia mildly enhancing as compared to heterogeneous enhancing previously..

    so it's required to go for surgery thought he can also eat everything.. hope my father can live cancer free life after surgery.

    Thank you so much..

  • howdyrichard
    howdyrichard Member Posts: 7
    #7
    Deathorglory said:

    Hello

    Hello,

    Sorry that you find yourself here.  I finished my radiation and initial chemo in late June and had my esophajectomy in mid-September, so about two and a half months.  That sounds like the same ballpark for you guys.  I hope your father has an easy recovery from his surgery.  It is a major one.

    Best Wishes, 

    Ed

    esophajectomy

    Just diagosed 1 month ago. Will be starting Chemo / Radiation this coming week.  Curious how they replaced your esophagus?

  • Deathorglory
    Deathorglory Member Posts: 364 Member
    #8
    howdyrichard said:

    esophajectomy

    Just diagosed 1 month ago. Will be starting Chemo / Radiation this coming week.  Curious how they replaced your esophagus?

    Hello Richard

    Hello Richard,

    Part of the esophajectomy is removing a large chunk of your esophagus.  The other part is constructing a new esophagus out of your stomach.  When my surgeon told me that, I asked, "And what are you going to use to make me a new stomach?"  He told me there wasn't going to be a new stomach and that I would, in large part, be having a gastric bypass.  

    It's major surgery.  If you are looking into it, I'd suggest a couple of things.  First, make sure you are seeing a top quality surgeon at a top quality hospital.  It's very important.  Also, look for folks who do the surgery laproscopically.  It's much preferable to an open surgery.  

    Best Wishes,

    Ed

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