Hi guys. Sending love to you all. We have just lost my mum to this cancer after only 6 months post surgery. My advice push for the chemo after and push for all the scans you can get after too. If this had been possible for mum then she might still be here. Xx

hi,

it,s sad to hear about your loss especially after your mum going through the operation i know its difficult to accept your loss especially when you read posts like mine telling others it will all be fine , god bless you and take care of yourslef and your family.

Hi Everyone,

This is horrible thing to have, my staging is stage T3 N2 hopefully the FLOT treatment will have the desired effect, to give me a chance to have an operation and followed by more FLOT,

 All you can do is keep positive, keep as fit as possible eat as much as possible (obviously heathy lol) and hope for the best.

Hi Ray

Thats good   tumour less than 3cm no metastasis and only 2 lymph nodes i am sure you will get through the chemo and onto the operation no problem fingers crossed , keep in touch during your chemo and let us know how it is going , remember don,t be afraid to ask about anything you are concerned about , take care.

Hi Dooggreg

Thank you for your support, yes I will update this thread, and keep you up to date with my journey through this process.

Hi folks, 

How are our oesophageals doing out there.

posting my  update.

Husband finished his FLOT chemo toward mid November, with a 'partial response' whatever that is ‍♀️.

Had his Oesophagectomy on Wednesday 16th. All keyhole. 8 hours on the table.

Now he is  on day 3 of something called an 'enhanced recovery programme' when I turned up about 3 hours ago, he was sat in the chair, drinking coffee!!!!!. So was the guy next to him!

Drains and drips in place, but he is walking around the ward!!
I was shocked, in a pleasant way, by how quickly they push the recovery- they expect to Chuck them out on day 7. He is exhausted, but asking for a paper etc.

Don't know the pathology stuff yet, but really not as bad as I was expecting

How are you all out there ?

Hi Hilts

it,s good to hear your husband has had his operation , i am now six months post operative and 90%

recovered , the pathology does take around four  weeks which usually coincides with your first follow up, if yo have any other questions feel free to ask , i am always happy to help, otherwise have a merry christmas 

Regards

Douglas

Hi , 

thanx for coming back.

yep, he's all done and dusted. I could not belive how slick the whole affair has been. When I worked on the wards (okay, it was 1989!,), the op was horrendous and recovery pretty gruesome and lengthy. Not like the 'modern' job in any way. He is day 6 today and all he has left is the chest drain , or the bucket as most of the chaps in his ward call it. He is eating purée now and we have had the pep talk from dietician. All the pain stuff has gone too and he is on oral (jet) meds. All the  4 'wounds' are tiny no more than say an inch, and glued not stitched. Honestly it looks exactly like my gall bladder op. Impressive stuff.

He is utterly exhausted- hospitals are noisy and as I tell him , his body has taken an enormous nuclear hit.

Really hoping to have him home for Xmas, so he can enjoy purée turkey, with a side of pigs in blankets.....purée. He can then have a wonderful nightcap of Jej feed (:

i wonder is there any way to get all the Oesophageals on a single board, I see lots of random single posts on here and thought it might be useful if we are all together. I suppose the downside of that would be if people were in a bad way, listening to positive banter would be really off, and vice versa, if you are in a good place, sad stories would not what one would want to hear..... just a thought.

Have you had much/any of that Dumping syndrome? He is flapping about that , I keep telling him trial , error and maybe never, and he will only know how to avoid it from getting used to his new guts,but just wondering how common it is?

hi again Hilts

in response the first 3 months at home can be a trying with with the appetite , hungry , not hungry , the feeding supplements help a bit although the bind of being hooked up to the pump is irritating and a good incentive to get your eating in check, yes the "dumping" due to over eating is a problem but you soon learn no matter how delicious the food is you need to limit the amount you eat at one sitting , after 6 months i have more or less got this under control , i have a cooked breakfast every day , soup or sandwich for lunch and main course at 4 or 5 pm  snacks inbetween and toast at suppertime , and that is maintaining my energy levels and weight , the biggest surprise is probably how you can adjust to eating probably half what i did previously , eating is not a race or a competition so eat slowly ! , and rest rest , rest , their has been some serious internal re plumbing done and it needs time to heal ! , as before any questions you have i am here to help where i can, have a good christmas

Regards 

Douglas

Really glad his surgery went well, and wishing you a good Christmas x

Hi, 

update from the front line!
 

i have posted this in another board, I haven't worked out to post to multiple boards, or get us all on one, but I'll write this again.......

yipee- He came home , day 8, 6pm xmas eve yippeee- sorry , I am enjoying being a tad childish. A small positive moment in the rollercoaster that has been , well, coasting since August.

i made a full dinner yesterday.  I puréed the lot for him, swimming in gravy, ate the lot.No Dumping, but his guts are still probably still thinking WTF. Today, it is turkey curry......purée.

covid has made it all a tad easier for us, no expectations to meet family or friends, to go anywhere or do anything- so just us, front door closed, doing what WE want to do. Which for once is absolutely great.

onwards we go.....

More updates-:

Got a call from the hospital today with the final pathological staging.

T1b from a pre chemo clinical stage of t2. No lymph or mets. Good clear margins. Got the lot.

As you can imaging , we are ECSTATIC - if you ever can be with cancer ! It is amazing how happy , good 'bad' news can make you. Who would have thought a year ago that I would be jumping up and down over  the size of a tumour!!!! But this is the best news in this 5 month rollercoaster.

Post op chemo -: he doesn't NEED it now, but hospital have offered so is going to have it. 4 FLOTS. Even if he only completes 2, it will be good. Then a final PET scan.

Doing well with his food. Still purée and overnight feeds, but hey who cares. Even had a Brandy earlier.

More updates-:

Got a call from the hospital today with the final pathological staging.

T1b from a pre chemo clinical stage of t2. No lymph or mets. Good clear margins. Got the lot.

As you can imaging , we are ECSTATIC - if you ever can be with cancer ! It is amazing how happy , good 'bad' news can make you. Who would have thought a year ago that I would be jumping up and down over  the size of a tumour!!!! But this is the best news in this 5 month rollercoaster.

Post op chemo -: he doesn't NEED it now, but hospital have offered so is going to have it. 4 FLOTS. Even if he only completes 2, it will be good. Then a final PET scan.

Doing well with his food. Still purée and overnight feeds, but hey who cares. Even had a Brandy earlier.

hi Hilts

thats very good news i am so pleased for you both and your family , remember healing takes time but with patience you will see improvements over the coming months , there will  always be a few "bad days " which the body decides to chuck in to remind you who is in charge , the additional flot was the same situation with me and was described as a belt and braces option which i declined due to weight loss , anyway good times ahead and a happy year to you .

regards 

Douglas