Dad and EC

dvlindsey40
dvlindsey40 Member Posts: 2
edited March 2014 in Esophageal Cancer #1
Hello, my Dad was diagonosed EC and in lymph node around stomach. Surgery was not an option. he did a clinical trial and all was going okay until the last ct scan showed the tumor doubled in size. They cancelled the trial and sent us back home for a different treatment. After meeting with the Dr. dad decided he wasn't going to take the chemo. I asked him if he would be interested in going to talk to someone in Chicago at the CTCA. We talked to them and we are supposed to go up as soon as they can get confirmation. It has been almost 2 months since last chemo treatment. I can't help but think that this time has allowed it to spread. Dad has been able to eat small portions with the stint they put in. Some days all he has is a ensure. He has lost a lot of energy, but still gets up and goes places some days. Don't know what else to do! Has too much time passed?

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  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #2
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  • dvlindsey40
    dvlindsey40 Member Posts: 2
    #3
    unknown said:

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator

    Thanks for your reply Sherri. Dad was Diagnosed last January. He is 63. We have never been told that the cancer has met? I have not givin up hope. I hope and pray for your husband to continue to do well.

    Dave
  • MAE66
    MAE66 Member Posts: 66
    #4
    Too much time?
    Just last week I was where you are now. My husband is stage 4, surgery not an option. He went thru chemo. and at the end took a six week break. We were happy to have time off, and the Dr. really felt he needed some recovery time. He recovered beautifully, so much so that we were surprised to find the cancer had come back in such a short time (yes, we are sure now). I panicked, and he questioned the decision to take a break. So here we are in chemo again, and again it is not a bad as anticipated. What I am trying to say is that even if your fears are realized, there is still hope and treatment available.

    Susan
  • JaneE2366
    JaneE2366 Member Posts: 289 Member
    #5
    never to late
    My husband too has stage iv. Dx last March and we just got the best news....his PET that he just had is better than the last one he had in Sept. He has been in remission since last May after 2 rounds of chemo. So your dad has to fight. Just because one course of treatment didn't work, doesn't mean another one won't. Insist he see someone else and get started on another treatment. My husband was 58 when dx...only 5 years younger than your dad.
    Jane
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #6
    dvlindsey40 said:

    Thanks for your reply Sherri. Dad was Diagnosed last January. He is 63. We have never been told that the cancer has met? I have not givin up hope. I hope and pray for your husband to continue to do well.

    Dave

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator
  • emg09
    emg09 Member Posts: 228
    #7
    JaneE2366 said:

    never to late
    My husband too has stage iv. Dx last March and we just got the best news....his PET that he just had is better than the last one he had in Sept. He has been in remission since last May after 2 rounds of chemo. So your dad has to fight. Just because one course of treatment didn't work, doesn't mean another one won't. Insist he see someone else and get started on another treatment. My husband was 58 when dx...only 5 years younger than your dad.
    Jane

    Hi,
    My dad is stage 4,
    Hi,

    My dad is stage 4, inoperable. He too was in a clinical study that didn't work. He's now using a different chemo, he will have another scan on Thursday to see how things are going. Never give up hope, I know it's hard. We looked into CTCA as well. It just didn't work out for us. Please let me know how your apt. goes. I'm curious!!! We are being treated at Johns Hopkins.
    Erika
  • BJeastOR
    BJeastOR Member Posts: 18
    #8
    Good for you!
    Keep being aggressive about getting your Dad the best possible care. My hubby was initially told "nothing we can do" and we about lost all hope. But he decided that was not acceptable and we looked into other possibilities. Ended up at Mayo Clinic in AZ. They were very aggressive with treatment and we believe he would not be alive today if not for them. They had much more experience and much more advanced equipment and abilities than where we first went. In fact, it is possible at some facilities to have radiation done to specific lymph nodes DURING the surgery itself- intraoperative. No telling how it will all turn out but we're still here today. After all, none of us really know if we have tomorrow- it is all in God's hands. Also, as soon as we got the dx I went crazy on the internet reading and learning and was able to help hubby avoid some mistakes that may have prevented Mayo from accepting him or made his later surgery more difficult. So, you become the best informed advocate that you can be for your Dad and keep being his rock. Good for you.

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