Surviving Oesophageal Cancer

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Hi , I’m new to this site but wanted to share my experience of living with oesophageal cancer. I realise that I’m one of the lucky ones in that my cancer was caught relatively early and was therefore operable.

I was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus in February 2007 and after many tests and two sessions of chemotherapy I underwent an Ivor Lewis operation, which is major surgery to remove the cancer, and lasted around seven hours. I responded well throughout and remained only five days in intensive care before being moved to a general ward and released a week later.

Since then, I’ve continued to do well but suffer from dumping syndrome as a result of the surgery. This is an unpleasant side-effect that causes fatigue, sweating and nausea after eating. Also, I now have to have vitamin B12 injections every three months as my body can no longer process this essential vitamin.

All in all, I feel ok and have remained positive all the way through. I realise I’m extremely lucky and count my blessings every day.

I’ve read so many negative reports about this type of cancer so I felt I had to share something positive for those of you who have, or know someone with, Oesophageal cancer.

All the best

Crystal

FormerMember over 15 years ago

Hi Crystal,
Please read my post again. 70yrs young!! I'm quite mature but NOT OLD!!!
Cheers Ben. .

crystalclear over 15 years ago

Hi Ben
Lol, please forgive my faux pas, it is merely the folly of youth that makes me ignorant in addressing the slightly more mature members of this community. When I grow up, apart from wanting to be a train driver, I hope that I too will be accorded the courtesy of being addressed as 70 years young. You are, without doubt, like a fine wine, matured well, travels well and makes the recipient feel great. Hugs to you ((((Ben)))). xx

FormerMember over 15 years ago

Hi Crystal
Glad you are feeling on top of things today, you are right about the scenery, it’s fantastic. My weight had been stable at 10 ½ stone but I have fallen a little under 10 stone, at my lightest it was been 9 ½ ,so I am not too concerned, but I am happier at 10 ½ . Before this illness I was over 16 stone which was way too heavy, but unlike now I used to really enjoy my food. I have been tidying the shed and garage yesterday and today so have been kept busy, I am back to work on Saturday late shift.

Ben
It’s only a number mate; if I look as well as you at 70 I will be well happy, I really hope you have a good day surrounded by all your family and friends, I will be half a century next month so will properly have to do something as I don’t normally celebrate my birthdays.

Hi to anyone else looking in

Steve

crystalclear over 15 years ago

Hi Ben / Good Year
It seems I’m surrounded by creative Virgos. The Leo purrs. Ben, if I looked like you at 70 years young I’d be well worried, but I know what Good Year means.
And of course Steve, you must do something special for your 50^th, something wild and fun. I’m a late developer – on my 40^th I bought a motorbike and leathers and learned how to ride. On my 50^th I graduated with BSc (Hons) and took a holiday in Disney World Florida by way of celebration. So I’ll have to do something good on my 60^th and it has to be as much fun as all the others. Maybe flying lessons!
A fun day to each of you. xx
A fine day to all.
Love Crystal xx

FormerMember over 15 years ago

Hi Crystal and Steve,
Sorry to upset your surroundings but I am a Libra! Does this mean relegation to another league?
Yes Steve you must mark the half century in an appropriate manner - what date in Sept? would be a coincidence if we are on the same day! (Mine is on the 26th but don't tell Crystal)
We are off to watch our local rugby team tonight (The Highlanders) play Auckland (The Blues) we got an invite yesterday - Corporate Box and all the posh trimmings, pity I can't have a drink due to medications. I have two grandsons who have been selected for the under 18s NZ secondary school rep team so will be watching their progress. Plus we had a phone call this morning to say we had won tickets to the local stage show of "The Producers " so will be buying an extra lotto ticket on the way into town.
It's all happening!!
A wonderful day here with sun streaming in, looking forward to the drive aruond the peninsular into town.
It's great to be part of the human race - especially when you are in front.
Trust it is good for you all on the other side of the world.
Keep your powder dry.
Cheers Ben

FormerMember over 15 years ago

Hi Crystal
I hope you have fully recovered from the back problem. I envy you your degree, I missed out on a formal education because I didn’t like school it always felt like a prison to me, when the teachers found out I was good with a spanner and working down at the scrap yard I used to get to fix their cars, so to keep me interested they sent me to college one day a week where I did plumbing, electrical and car mechanics, and on another day they allowed me to work in an electric shaver repair shop; all this was very forward thinking for that time and has saved me many thousands of pounds over the years especially when remodeling my properties and car repairs. I did get accepted for a MSC course in Air Transport Management but was diagnosed with cancer two months before the start date so I pulled out; maybe when I have saved up a bit I can do it later. I did my motorbike licence a few years ago, but the other half won’t let me have one, when I was younger I used to have a Yamaha 250cc this was before the licensing law changed. When I was 21 I took my Heavy Goods Class one and was truck driving for quite a few years, later I took my PCV and alternated between Truck in the winter and coach driving in summer, this is when I really started piling on the weight, because I never had to pay for my food and spent too much time in the coach drivers cream tea room at Widdecombe in the Moor.

Hi Ben
We won’t tell Crystal but I am a Libra as well 30^th September, I hope you have a good time at the Rugby, and your grandsons do well in their sporting ambitions. We are off to London this evening to see the Jersey Boys, but first I need to go out and clean the windows, I really don’t like ladders. I bought an automotive oscilloscope with a really high sample rate so I will be hooking that up to the car tomorrow to get some practice using it, the ways of fixing older cars are long gone it’s all computers with Can, Bus Lin and fiber optics now; still it’s good I am stating to be interested in my hobbies again.

A good day to anyone else looking in,

Steve

FormerMember over 15 years ago

Hello, as someone looking in i just wanted to say how much I enjoy reading your banter. My husband has had a good year following stomach removal and managed to slowly gain a stone, his stubborn determination has amazed doctors and family. We are having a rough patch just now as he is not eating and loosing weight but still fighting and pottering in the garden. He wont go to doctors , but Im working on that. Im a bit useless as Ive just had an op, not life threatening, but cant drive or do alot so we are a right pair at the moment.

My sister emigrated to North Island New Zealand 3 weeks ago so I am missing her like crazy. It sounds fantastic. She semds me pictures and emails almost every day. At the moment they are exploring till she gets a date to start work. Rumbler makes me feel closer, the internet is fantastic, how folk coped before www I dont know.Family emigrated and that was that except for letters. Now Im rambling. Keep posting. Ilove reading and all the best to everyone, thanks for sharing, leisha x

crystalclear over 15 years ago

Hi Leisha
Welcome and please feel free to join in with the banter. At the moment there’s an imbalance of well-balanced blokes here, and not being a Libran I can’t claim to be well balanced like they are Lol.
From what you say, it seems you’ve come through a great ordeal with fighting spirit and that stubbornnessof your husband has served him well. It’s that same stubborness that is now making him refuse to go to the doctors, so as you say, you must work on that. I would guess that after everything he’s been through, he just wants to be left alone and not have to think or worry about other possible health issues. Many of us here can associate and sympathise with that, as sometimes we ‘jump’ at every single little ache and pain. After gastric surgery it isn’t always easy to eat or to maintain weight, as Ben and Steve here will certainly testify. I know it must be an enormous worry to you though, to see your husband lose weight again and it always makes us fear the worst, but generally it’s nearly always just par for the course and stabilises again. Whatever the cause, he should of course, get it checked out and just the peace of mind will be worth it. Has he described how he feels or why he can’t or doesn’t want to eat? It would help if you wrote the details of your husband’s journey in your profile so that we don’t have to keep asking questions, plus writing it down has the added benefit of being cathartic and giving a clear perspective.
You say you’v just had surgery as well, and even though it isn’t life threatening, surgery is always an ordeal, so you too must take care. Maybe it’s because of your own surgery that your husband doesn’t want to worry you further. Is there someone close who can drive you around or help you with practical things such as shopping?
Obviously, you’re going to miss your sister loads, but as you say, the internet and text messages bring us all closer together. I know though, that you wish she was there to chat to and help you at this time. Anytime you need to talk, you are very welcome here.
Let us know how you manage to persude your husband to visit the docs won’t you and let us know how you're doing.
Love Crystal xx

Ben / Steve
So, neither of you are Virgo? Librans eh? Well-balanced as well as liking the finer things in life. And what aren’t you telling Crystal about on the 26 and 30 September? I’ll find out you know. This lion’s a smart pussycat, it won’t take me long.
Ben
How lovely to be invited into a corporate box (didn’t I say you enjoyed the finer things in life). Pity the champagne was wasted on you, as it is on me these days. It will be great for you to watch and mark the progress of your grandsons, so I hope you keep all references to their achievements in a giant scrapbook, which I’m sure will include press cuttings when they are famous. Plus, you won tickets for a show! Hope you had a good time there and since you’re so lucky you could just send me the winning lotto numbers whilst you’re on a roll. xx
Steve
I didn’t care for school either, but I always said that before I die I wanted to do a degree. So, I cut it close didn’t I Lol. I was considering a Masters before my illness but I just don’t want to tempt fate that much. Anyway, although I enjoyed the intellectual stimulus I’m really more creative by nature and dream a lot. What you’ve achieved is far more impressive to my mind, as you have the practical ability that is so useful to have, as well as saving a great deal of expense along the way. Did you say you have a pilot’s licence, or did I dream that? If so, what have you flown? xx

To All, hope you all have a really good day and pleasant evening.
Love Crystal xx

FormerMember over 15 years ago

Hi Leisha
Welcome to the thread, Like Crystal has said this gastric business hits you in all sorts of strange ways, there doesn’t seem to be rhyme or reason where appetite is concerned, but loosing the whole of the stomach must be a very hard thing to cope with. I hope you both are feeling a little better today and can get out and about soon.

Hi Crystal
Yes I have a pilots licence and was building up hours working towards my commercial licence before an idiot maniac decided to hit me head on in my car so badly I had to be cut out of the wreck. The CAA suspended my medical and apart from the head injuries I had to have several operations on my ankle, the biggest problem for me which was incidentally, harder to cope with than my cancer diagnosis was having post traumatic stress disorder which troubled me for quite some time after the crash. I had trouble holding down a job after the accident so ended up living on the money set aside for my flying, by the time I was sorted and my medical was reinstated my age was working against me so I invested my compensation into property. I did fly again but because of the expense involved could not justify it as a hobby. I used to go to America to build up hours and hired a little white 4 seat Cherokee and I did a deal for 100 hours of flying. The aircraft was very well maintained and I used to get up in the morning and fly all over Florida and once out to Bimini in the Bahamas, I took my wife and two friends and we snorkeled in the clear waters before flying back to Vero Beach. Other highlights were flying along the landing facility at Cape Canaveral and talking to the tower and flying over the Grand Canyon, memories that shall stay with me forever. I learned to fly in a two seat Tomahawk and my brave wife was my first passenger on a very windy day! I have also flown Worriers and Cessna all single engine. If you decide to learn to fly the Air Pilot manuals are good for the ground school and you will need to do the air law exam before you can go solo. I know many woman pilots some of them are now flying 747s and Airbus in fact I had a lady instructor for some of my instrument rating (IMC) she was very good indeed. Another lady I work with has a licence to fly a balloon, and is something I wouldn’t mind having a go at. If money was not an object I would like to learn to fly a helicopter, although I have never been in one, I say go and have a trial lesson on your next birthday and see if you like it.

Steve

FormerMember over 15 years ago

Hi Steve,
Interesting to hear about your background and the unfortunate intervention in your flying career. Sounds like you had some great times. I have flown in single engine aircraft wih an old navy pilot mate from Orange county airport - the amount of air traffic for a wild colonial like me was frightening. Have had quite a few chopper flights installing two way radio repeaters on mountain tops plus one very special flight with Sharon on a tourist flight close by Mount Cook (now Mt Aorangi) and we landed on virgin snow at about 10,000ft and cut the engine left our footprints and just listened to the silence. Must say we were relieved when the rotors started up again as we weren't really dressed for a night up there! Your Bahama trips sound exciting.

Hi Crystal,
We enjoyed the rugby - especially as our home team won. The meal was excellent and I watched the others as their exuberance increased in time with their alchohol intake. Surprising how noisy everyone seems when you are not partaking!
We are off to the show tonight so another knees up.Weather isn't so hot today but who cares?

Hi Liesha,
You will be missing your sister in down under paradise - pity she is in the wrong island - too many people up there, We lived in Auckland for 20 years back in the 60s- it's nice but too busy now for us. Sorry to hear your other half is having weight problems - know how that feels - just tell him to hang in there and try eating little and often. Not easy if you are recovering as well, as us men are dreadful patients or should that be imptatience?
Anyway I see a grandson knocking on the door so must go.

All the best to everyone
Cheers Ben.

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