Hi there, am sorry you have found yourself with this diagnosis, there are sadly quite a few people here in a similar situation and its a good place to come for any questions you have, and for support.

My husband was diagnosed with 4cm tumor in his oesophagus in November 2020, and scan shortly afterwards revealed spread to his lung and lymph nodes in his chest. He was therefore not able to have the operation. He is having EOX chemotherapy and doing really well, he has gone from struggling to eat solid foods to eating everything again, in just a couple of months. No stent yet. We have gone from total despair to feeling actually very positive. He is due another scan soon so we will know more then.

There are many people who do have the op, and recover well, albeit taking a lot of time to adjust to new eating regimes etc afterwards. Try not to google, it really doesnt help and everyone is so different in what stage they are, and health, fitness, how they respond to treatment. Wishing you the best going forward do take care. 

Hello,

Thank you very much for your comments. They were very positive. I hope your husband carries on improving. I will keep you informed of my progress..

Best wishes

Steve 

Yes please do, it is always comforting to know we are not alone in this situation. 

Hi,

Really sorry to here your diagnosis, but don't give up hope! I was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in October 2019 and after an intense course of chemo in December/January, and then a large operation at the end of February 2020 I am feeling reasonbly fit and well again and actually went back to work in January 2021.

I don't know exactly what surgery you will be having, but mine was a full oesophagectomy, with half my stomach and quite a few lymph nodes removed at the same time. I won't try and kid you, it has been a pretty hard 18 months or so, but I can do virtually everything I did before, just have the odd dicky turn every now and again, and I currently struggle for energy.

Please send me a message if I can help in any way, or even if you just want a chat.

Take care.

Hi,

Thanks for your message. I am going to have 4 lots of FLOT chemo followed by an op which I have been told can last for between 10-12 hours. So I imagine it's pretty major. Then I get a further 4 lots of FLOT. It looks like you had 15 months between diagnosis & going back to work. I was lucky that I sold my business aged 51. I did some volunteering e.g deivering books to the housebound & helping out at my local hospital. I now play golf 3 times a week & have lots of holidays. My wife thinks I am a holidayholic.

Not sure if there is a support group for this problem. Hopefully I will be able to do both of the above sooner or later. Once again thank you very much for your message & I hope you get better & bettert

Hi Stevecon56 - check out Rayb's post, there are a number of us at various stages through the FLOT/OP/FLOT process (I've just had my 1st cycle of FLOT after the OP in early March).

There is a lot to take in - but for what it's worth, they do not put you through the FLOT/OP/FLOT process unless there is a high degree of confidence that this will actually work.

The OP is major, but is also quite routine now - somebody said it's the largest routine major op that happens.

Being fit and healthy is the key to getting through it - and ensuring that you have a bit of weight added as you will lose it during the process.

So, feel free to come over to Rayb's post - a friendly bunch, with a common theme.  

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