Hi my Mam has just been diagnosed with Oesophagus cancer advanced stage and is awaiting a pet scan so sad as although eighty she loves life looking for hope for her .
Hi Dave thanks for taking the time to help I am still shocked to discover that Mam has this cancer and at the meeting last week she was given some form of hope in thinking at an operation may be possible. I am worried however that this is a massive thing for her to endure and we still have to wait for the results of the pet scan it was discussed at the meeting that the tumour sits at the base of the gullet and in to the stomache as you will be aware we need the finial result of this other scan they said that it is at stage three. Mam is still in deep shock to find that she has this as only last year she lost her younger sister Vera to the same cancer although Veras cancer was confined to the stomache she was only 62 when she passed away, I want to be able to help her through this sad time and fear that I dont no how as I also feel destroyed with this to no that I will eventually lose Mam to this terrible cancer thank you again Dave for taking time out for me I am most gratefull regards Janette.
I can well understand the feeling of shock, it takes a while for your mind to adjust. It may not seem it at the moment, but the fact that an operation is being considered is actually a good sign as it means the cancer hasn't grown around or into any major organs or blood vessels.
Let's hope that they are able to operate, that they manage to get rid of it all and stop it coming back.
If they do operate, they'll probably need to do it sooner rather than later. Have they said whether your Mum will need chemo or radio therapy afterwards?
I won't advise you not to worry as that isn't going to happen as you're bound to worry, but try to keep your Mum hopeful if you can. Don't be shy about asking awkward questions of her surgeon or oncologist - especially when it comes to making decisions about what type of care to have. The more your Mum knows about her condition and the options available to her, the better able she'll be to make an informed choice about what's best for her.
My choice was fairly easy as the only options available were doing nothing or trying chemo. Luckily I've never put too much faith in statistics and doing nothing just didn't feel right for me (in late 2013 I was given a 5% chance of living longer than a year even with chemo).
Hi Dave thank you for replying I got good news Friday as the pet scan results show that Mams cancer has not spread to her organs and she is to be assesed for a fitness check to see if she can have the surgery I am still worried that with her age this operation is huge and carries risks within itself I am pleased that you have well exeeded the expected time of life and hope that you have many more years to come I will keep you informed of Mams progress and hope that if they say that she is fit enough to endure surgery that all goes well I do no that they will be wanting to do this asap and will be praying all will be a sucsess kindest regards Janette.
