Hi all,

Just hoping for a bit of knowledge advice really...  my dad is in his 70s and on his own.  He was diagnosed with oesophagael cancer at the end of Feb.  It's in the bottom of his oesophagus and they've said that because of the size of it (9cm) that they wouldn't operate and just focus on chemo / radio.

He was on chemo but it made him really poorly / nauseous and they didn't think he'd manage the full 5 weeks of radiotherapy if they kept him on chemo so they stopped it.  They did a CT scan a couple of weeks ago and they've since said that it has shrunk which I think is really good because shouldn't it be all swollen?  Thus making it look bigger than it actually is?

I wasn't at the initial appointments so I've never been told stage or TNM and nobody has volunteered that info to me.  I know that I can't really ask the doctors without dad's permission.  I was at an appointment where they said it might have spread to his lymph nodes at the top of his stomach.  It's all very vague and he finishes radiotherapy this week.  They want to see him next week for a review / check up to make sure he's not too sore then potentially they might not see him for another 3 months.

I was just hoping someone might be able to give me an idea of what to expect really.  Is he likely to need more radiotherapy in the future?  Is it possible for it to shrink so much that it goes altogether? (that was what my dad wished he'd asked today) and is there anyone I can ask for more details regarding his treatment plan?  As I wasn't at the initial appointments, I just feel like I've not really got a clue what's going on and I'm a bit frightened to ask my dad or my sister.

Thanks in advance