What a roller coaster we've been on. Hubby was diagnosed last last year with esophageal cancer. A peg feeding tube was inserted as he was having trouble eating prior to diagnosis, which didn't do what it was supposed to. Most of what ate/drank came out through the bag attached to the peg tube. He started chemo and radiation in Jan, Chemo once a week for 6 weeks, radiation Mon-Fri for 6 weeks. Peg tube removed in May as he had dropped 25kg from the start of treatment. Once that finished an 8 week wait before a pet scan to determine whether the treatment had worked. Surgery was booked in for June 22nd. Two weeks prior to surgery we had consult with surgeon and was told surgery was no longer an option as the cancer had spread.. his scans looked like christmas lights. Cancer in the esophagus had shrunk but it was obviously already in lymph nodes just to small to show up. Treatment first time round he found really hard to cope with and spent a lot of time in hospital, even a few days in ICU. Now he is having a second round of chemo, supposedly to give him quality of life (3rd session today) and I'm really not sure it's worth it. He feels terrible most of the time... in the last 6 weeks he has had 4 good days. He doesn't want to eat much, sleeps a lot, he does get up each morning, but just sits and watches TV or reads and naps on and of most of the day. He really struggles to do anything much at all. We do have lots of help, palliative care, district nurses, dietician, a terrific GP, and they have been able to keep him at home most of these last few weeks. We cope because it's all you can do, but it's not easy.
Sue
