Oesophagus cancer advice

Hi I'm Jude and my mother in law has recently been diagnosed with advanced oesophagul cancer which has spread. They can't do anything for her except palliative care. They have inserted a stent tonhelp eating but she is still being really sick despite the stent and a drive with anti sickness meds.  She has spasmodic pain which at times is awful. Has anybody any advice for me to what questions to ask. We are finding it hard to get our heads around it all as month ago she was fit and well as far as we knew and the bang she half the person she was. It's the sickness which is awful. How quick does the cancer spread they have said it's a matter for months. Any advice wouls be lovely. We still haven't met with any palliative care team as yet. She's in hospital at present. 

Thank you

  • Hi Jude,

    Sorry to read about your mother in law's condition and prognosis.

    I'm afraid only her care team will be able to answer some of your questions as even an oncologist with access to biopsy and scan results would struggle to predict how quickly the cancer will spread as every case is different. 

    Some things you could ask are whether she has a care plan which you can see, what options are available, how they plan to manage her pain and whether she is likely to recover enough to leave hospital. You may need her consent to receive this information on her behalf as it is private and confidential. 

    Best wishes

    Dave

  • Thank you Dave. We're hoping to speak to someone today about that. It's seeing her vomiting all the time and in pain that's so hard and we hoped they would be able to stop it but I'm guessing that's all part of the cancer. It's the not knowing what happens next and what to expect as it progresses. Thanks you for replying x