Welcome to Cancer Chat Williammia although I'm really sorry to read that your husband has been diagnosed with inoperable oesophageal cancer.

One of our more regular members [@davek]‍ was diagnosed with this back in 2013 and and now that I've mentioned him in this post I'm sure he'll stop by to introduce himself and do what he can to help you at this time, as will any of our other members who are in a similar situation.

I'm sure everything you're doing and have done already is greatly appreciated by your husband and just knowing he has you by his side to support him on this journey may prove to be the best support of all.

Best wishes to you both at this difficult time, 

Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator

Hi,

Sorry to read about your husband's condition. I'm not qualified to give any advice but for what it is worth I've been told that the fitter someone is the better their body is able to cope with chemo. So he is starting with at least one advantage.

Is he on EOX chemo? My mistake was in assuming the side effects I had were normal and I struggled with nausea and diarrhea for the first few weeks before asking for help. Lots of sleep after the infusions helped, as did getting out and about with my dog for some exercise as soon as I could. When I didn't want to eat, my wife gave me homemade smoothies and power shakes. The nurses said to eat little and often, which I tried to do.

It is easy to confuse incurable with terminal, even when we try not to. My own hope is to die with cancer, rather than to die from it. Not knowing what to expect over the coming months is never easy, but in my case we had no idea how fast growing my cancer was as it was hit with chemo almost as soon as it was discovered. 

I hope things go well for you both.

Dave