Cancer Research UK main site

Oesophagus tumour

Mradiii
Offline

I have just come back from hospital appointment after being told my cancer cannot be operated on and I have to start on palliative chemotherapy in 3/4 weeks time. Any insight would be helpful, especially realistic life expectancy . I have never had cancer before, I am having trouble eating and drinking as it makes me vomit. Lower oesophagus and lymph nodes are affected, hence incurable. I live on my own, I work, but may need to know what benefits I am entitled to if I have to leave work

  • Offline

    Hi my mum has just been told she has esophagus cancer where the esophagus meets the stomach but she's not fit enough for chemo or palliative chemo ..

  • Offline

    Hi Mradiii,

    I am so sorry to read your news which I know from experience can knock you for six.
    Has anyone explained why your cancer is inoperable? In my case, it was because it was wrapped around my aorta. 
    Life expectancy is hard to predict as every patient and every cancer is unique and there are many variables.
    These include the stage (1 to 4) that your cancer has reached, your age, level of physical fitness and whether you have other conditions. 
    Your oncologist will be best placed to give you an idea but please bear in mind that at best this will be an educated guess and isn’t set in stone. 
    There’s info about benefits on this site (follow the link below). If you qualify for PIP, it is an in work benefit which will be backdated to your date of diagnosis.
    Best to start your claim early as these can take weeks to be processed. Your local MacMillan benefits advisor will be able to help - sometimes they will make a claim on a patient’s behalf and put the claim through a fast track process.

    I hope this information is useful.


    Good luck!
    Dave 

    www.cancerresearchuk.org/.../disability-cancer-advanced

  • Offline in reply to davek

    Hi. Thank you for your insight and advice. They can't operate due to lymph nodes that have spread; apparently it would be pointless. I live on my own, no family so am feeling a bit nervous about what to expect as I'm not very confident asking for help and this is all new to me. It's like joining a club against your will and not knowing who to speak to, what to ask or where to go and feeling unwell and ye, it's all a bit daunting. I'm hoping people approach me first and offer support as I don't like asking, that's the reality of who I am and I can't change who I am. I just hope it gets easier to deal with as I'm not worried about dying, I'm more worried about living. Thank you for the good luck though, I'm sure things will pan out in time.

    Adrian

  • Offline in reply to Mradiii

    Hi Adrian,
    That sort of makes sense about the lymph nodes. 
    A friend on here once described it as a club that no-one chooses to join. 
    The nurses on here are really good at answering clinical questions and at suggesting what to ask your care team. 
    If you’re not confident about asking awkward questions verbally, you could write them down as bullet points and hand it to the clinician at the start of your appointment. Writing down the answers you get when you get them is useful as research shows that patients forget up to 70% of what they are told when they are stressed.
    One last thing - try not to confuse palliative care with end of life care a lot of people do. Palliative care is care designed to treat your symptoms, rather than to cure you, nothing else. End of life care is just one type of palliative care which everyone tries to avoid for as long as we can. 

    Bye for now
    Dave

Speak to a nurse

Quick links

Follow us

Registered with Fundraising Regulator (logo)
Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ.