HelloLizCherry, and welcome to the forum that no-one ever wants to join.  First of all, let me say how sorry I am that you and your husband are going through this.  I think that the reason your husband's medical team are so reluctant to give you any indicators regarding what will happen with your  husband is that it is so hard to predict just how long a person has left to live, because each case and each individual are different.  I am at stage 4 of my breast cancer.  I went through 4 months of chemo the second time I got it, and for about 6 months I was in remission.  However, I have been informed that it has spread to my lymph nodes and lungs.  The strange thing is, I don't  really feel ill, apart from some aches and pains, and sometimes feeling very tired, and in fact I am still  well enough to take care of my husband, who is himself extremely ill with several life threatening conditions.  As you say, it truly is a journey in to the unknown, but I have decided that I will simply take each day as it comes.  My husband (who is in the early stages of Alzheimers) is in complete denial about my illness and the fact that I am not going to get any better, but if this is how he deals with the situation, then that is fine with me.  We all have our own ways of coping.  I don't know how long I have got......it might be a few years, a few months or maybe just a few weeks, but I am going to enjoy these final days with my darling husband.  I wish you and your husband all the best, and once more, I am so sorry for what you are going through, take care, Violet, xx

Hi Liz,

That sounds as positive as you can hope for at this stage. I don't want to raise false hope but I was in a similar situation to your husband in late 2013. My oesophageal cancer was large and inoperable, I was diagnosed at stage 4.
A very small percentage of patients respond unusually well to chemo. Oncologists are reluctant to mention this in case they are accused of raising unrealistic expectations. 
At the time I was hoping the chemo would extend my life for six to twelve months and suppress the symptoms.
The plan was to undergo chemo, check the results and if the cancer had shrunk watch and wait before repeating the chemo. At the end of chemo in January 2014 the CT scan showed my primary and secondaries had all shrunk by between 50% and 60%. 

The EOX chemo was the only treatment I had - no alternative treatments or anything else. Just a lot of good luck!

So far they haven't grown back and I'm officially in remission. 

Good luck to you and your husband.

Dave

Hi Dave

That is simply fantastic to hear! Thank you so much for taking the time to reply and for sharing your story, which is beyond music to my ears! (I am a music teacher…) Of course, I absolutely understand that what works for one person doesn’t always work for the next – but just knowing that you have been able to fight off this appalling disease for all this  time, just you and the chemo as a team – no miracle drugs or new treatments that might not be widely available – gives us one hell of a glimmer of hope to cling on to. And cling  on to hope we shall!  Even against the odds.  Miracles do happen and you are living proof of that.  Thank you so much :-)

Liz

Hi Liz

you very kindly replied to my thread and I was just wondering how your husband is?  We are in the exact same position as you but just on the start of this journey.