Hi there 

Im very sorry to hear of your news .

I lost my dad to this revolting disgusting cancer a year ago .

He was diagnosed with stage 4 OC , he was dead in 9 weeks , he suffered so much and his NHS treatment was crap , he was 69 years old , a fit non smoker and non drinker ! 

I do feel for you and any person in this situation , it is awful .

I wish you the very best in this fight .

Hi Mich,

My husband (aged56) got a similar diagnosis 7 weeks ago. Not sure how your local services work, but omg our have been like lightning!

We got a plan after 2 weeks (1 week of that was our holiday!!!), no doubt you will have a ‘plan’ soon.

i am no medic, but I would pretty much guarantee it will involve more chemo. Husband is half way through his already, 2 lots to go of something called FLOT- I think it is the preferred option for oesophageal. It is also, so I understand it the ‘nuclear’ option (: it makes him feel dreadful for about 4 days, then he returns. His swallow symptoms have improved a lot. 

Depending on the ‘result ‘ of chemo, the medics are then planning the chop!

Ask your Medics a direct question and tell them ‘no flannel’. I asked “is this treatment with curative or palliative intent “. Got a straight up answer. As for them thinking you ‘can’t handle it’- I don’t think it goes like that these days, especially if you ask them a direct question.

What I can guarantee is the emotional rollercoaster that will go with it. My goodness. I have no genius advice on how to deal with it- we are just muddling through, but what we are trying to do is maintain as normal daily stuff as possible. One minute we are fine, then in bits the next. Keeping that routine is certainly helping - a lot.

i can’t change anything, but I can tell you, this site has been very helpful and you sure are not alone.

Good luck & best wishes

Hi,

No sugar coating, it could go either way as none of the statistics on average survival rates can be applied to an individual patient.

No-one is witholding information, they simply don’t know at this stage what impact your chemo will have. 

Some of us are lucky and respond well to the chemo, others die earlier than average for the same condition. I know from experience how scary that thought can be.

My own chemo regime was EOX - it made me feel far worse than my stage 4 oesophageal cancer did but I survived. Outcomes are getting better every year. My only advice is to plan for the worst and hope for the best - that may sound trite but the alternatives are bad for your mental health. 

Good luck!

Dave