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Oesophageal cancer support

ShepJ
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Hi 

My mum was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer about a month ago. She was fitted with a stent a couple of weeks later which has allowed her to eat. She was then given a pet scan to see if the cancer has spread. We went to get the results from the oncologist this week and were given the devastating news that there was nothing they could do for her. No chemotherapy or radiotherapy would help. She has been told to live the rest of her life as normal as possible. The trouble is my mum lives in Weymouth. And all her kids live in London. She has been here with us for the last 5 weeks. But she has asked to go home because Weymouth is where her life has been for the last 15 years. She has lots of friends there and some family. I feel guilty letting her go back but I need to respect her wishes. This is the hardest choice we have to make. Not sure what to do. Has anybody else been  through a similar situation?

 

 

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    Hi,

    So sorry to read about your Mum's devastating news. I can only imagine what you are all going through at the moment having had all hope of treatment snatched away. Even the slimmest of hopes is better than none at all. 

    Have they given a reason why they aren't recommending any treatment? This is very unusual unless there is another pre-existing condition or age-related frailty which any cancer treatment would make worse. 

    If not, it might be worth considering asking for a second opinion from a different hospital - maybe one of the specialist cancer centres in London such as the Marsden. 

     

    Good luck
    Dave

     

     

  • Offline in reply to davek

    Hi Dave 

    Thanks for replying to my post about mum. To be honest the oncologist was very vague. Maybe he was trying to spare my mum from the worst news.

    He never gave us the results of the pet scan. He basically said that if mum was in 5 pieces she would probably have cancer in every part. 

    He also didn't give us a time line of how long she has left. I'm not sure that I would want to know anyway. 

    Mum is quite frail now as she has lost so much weight. She is only 7 stone now. Shocking to see how rapidly someone can go downhill. Maybe this is the reason she can't have treatment. Never had to deal with this before. She will be 70 in October. Always been very outgoing and independent. I think we just need to take each day as it comes. 

    Thanks

    Peter 

     

  • Offline in reply to ShepJ

    Hi Peter,

    That is so sad to read, but it makes sense under the circumstances. My own Mum went through several cancer treatments, which prolonged her life but, when she was 70, she called a halt as she herself thought the benefits were overshadowed by the side effects and she felt too frail to continue. 

    Taking things one day at a time is pretty sensible. My Mum had some very strong viewe about her end of life care which we were fortunately able to facilitate with the help of her GP and the MacMillan and Marie Curie nurses.

     

    Best wishes

    Dave

     

     

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