Hi Steve

You have been in my thoughts too.  You are such a support on the site - I mean that most sincerely. 

We are in a state of limbo just now - waiting for treatment which will start on the 12th of Jan.

Julie - I wish you both some wonderful adventures.  

Hello to all of you others.  I am sorry I can't offer any advice, but I do wish you the very best.  My husband has advanced oesophageal cancer and therefore is not a candidate, apparently, for surgery.  I wish I could help you more. 

The site has been very quiet for a few days but I am sure that others will be back soon.

With love, Grace. 

Hi everyone, hope your new year got off to a good start.

li, I dont have precise experience of your op but my husband did not have chemo after his op and now we wish he had. its now 2 years on and the cancer has spread. He is now trying palliative chemo but is weak and struggling. We dont know if it would have made a difference and look forward not back. However my advice to anyone would be to seriously discuss and consider chemo with your doctors after any op.

I wishh you all the best and hope you keep posting. There are wonderful, experienced, kind and thoughtful people on here who will help you, love leisha x

Gidday Li'

I had my ivor lewis on 3rd dec 2008  and after considerable pondering and seeking opinions from all available sources decided against follow up chemo.

Three of the thirteen lymph nodes which wre removed were positive but we felt my body wasn't up to another bout of chemo and our oncologist agreed

Things progressed par for the ivor lewis coiurse and was looking pretty good until 2 months ago when it came back to bite me on the bum (well on my left humerus and right ribs to be more accurate) as secondary bone cancer and I am now under hospice care for pain management which seems to be under control 

Wuold I do the same thing again?? I don't believe in coulda wooda shoulda 's You make the decision based on the facts that you have at the time and get on with it. .

The arrow has flown and I am still enjoying life but with a little more discomfort than planned.  Hope this helps.

Cheers Ben. 

Happy New Year Ben, hope your festivities went well and you dont have too much pain. We have snow, snow, snow here but pesonally we are warm with the fridge well stocked so I am enjoying watching it fall from the sky and change my garden into a winter wonderland.

The dogs dont know what to make of it but seem to enjoy the taste ! I have put food out for the birds who actually look rather fat and in need of a diet .

What is your paradise like at the moment, lots of love leisha xxx

Hi All

What a start to the year with all this horrible snow everywhere, except where Ben is.  At least I got to make a snowman this morning.

Grace, I’m particularly anxious about this snow because of your appointment so I’m hoping against hope that it will stop.  At least the trains haven’t been affected and are still running normally in Yorkshire, though I realise that you have to make your way to your station.

Li, just to add to what Steve and Ben have said, it’s usual practice to be offered chemo after surgery if the biopsy showed lymph node involvement.  As both Steve and Ben have said, this treatment is very harsh after surgery and many can’t sustain it.  I was not offered adjuvant chemo because there was no lymph node involvement, although I did ask about it and was told that chemo is never offered post surgery unless it’s considered advantageous to the patient, i.e as a mopping up exercise when nodes have been affected.  When Gerald’s biopsy came back after surgery, was there any node involvement?  I hope that Gerald is doing well and that his treatment will soon be underway.  Let us know how he gets on as I’ll be thinking about you. xx

Hi Sharon, one thing that I did find caused the sweating was sweet food, especially chocolate.  Ice cream was ok, but unfortunately, almost all sweet things caused extreme sweating. To this day chocolate sets me off retching and sweating, although I do still have the occasional piece as it’s such a lovely thing.  Hope you’re doing ok apart from the dumping syndrome. xx

Hi Lou

It sounds as though you’ll be extremely fit with the rugby practice and workouts so good luck with that, but be careful not to get injured.  Obviously, you’ll have more info about your treatment plan after the next tests so do let us know what the outcome is and when chemo and / or surgery can be expected.  Stay focussed and as Mick says, don’t change your diet too much but make sure that you maintain weight.  Good luck with the tests next week and let us know how you get on. Xx

Hi Mick , Nice to see you posting here again as you’ve been quiet for a long time.  It’s good to know that you’re thriving as yours is the kind of survival story that we all like to hear about.  Take good care. xx

Hi Steve, I hope all is well with you and that generally you’re feeling good.  You’re right about our cat, so as a responsible owner I’ve put him in rehab where he’s having the time of his life on cocktails - prawn cocktails. xx

Elf's responsible owners  

Ben,you are so right when you say you make the decision at the time based on facts, so there is no point in saying should, would or could have.  The arrow has flown and we do what we do and follow it through.  I’m really glad to hear that life is enjoyable and I’m positive that you will be making the most of everything.  xx

Hi Leisha, It’s lovely to see you back and posting again.  I’m so sorry that Ed is finding the chemo tough, perhaps you should ask for some guidance from your Mac nurse or oncologist as to what can be done to relieve the sickness and other side effects.  As for myself, well I overdid things a little just after Christmas by having a long day out which involved a packed train journey, (standing only) miles of walking, then a packed train back, then to cap it all we had to walk the three miles home in freezing conditions as the town was at a complete gridlock and no taxis or buses could move. It’s a good job that we’d left our car at home otherwise we would have had to abandon it in town.  So, as these things go whenever I try to do too much, I was ill for three days with sickness, body aches and extreme fatigue.  I’m alright now and am busy doing one of my six new year resolutions which is a de-clutter.  Since surgery two and a half years ago, the house has become so cluttered and this makes me feel stressed and anxious, so whilst I can’t do too much, a couple of cupboards at a time is making a huge difference to my wellbeing, not to mention to our home.  I’m being totally ruthless so if it isn’t useful or beautiful, out it goes.  There go the pots and pans!  Voila, bare cupboards and seemingly spacious rooms.  I hope all is well with you Leisha and that you can achieve some of your resolutions?  What are they?  xx  

Hi to Everyone looking in, I hope your day is a good one.

 

 

 

Oh I cant believe your day out !!!!!!!!!!  Iwould have sat down and turned into a snow woman. No wonder you were ill after that. You young ones have no sense, ha ha.

Funny our placce sounds like yours, cluttered !!!!!! I also resolved to clear a cupboard at a time, NOT 2 though. Trouble is i start reading stuff and end up putting most of it back. Ive got school reports and pictures, cards and junk for 5 of them going back 40+ years !!!!!!  Love letters too, THEY are not going. I think I can dump the clothes that date about the same as the reports etc which range from size 12 to 22 and I am going to get back into one day, ha ha ha.

If Ed is well enough we aim to go back to Spain for a month while the boys remove this mobile home and replace it with a bigger and more modern one. So I have good reason to declutter, perhaps Ill start tomorrow.

So what have you all resolved? and are you actually doing it or still thinking about it? love leisha xxx

hi steve good to hear from you,could you tell me where the surgery site is {chest} does the feeling of discomfort ever go. no matter what i eat i feel it there. hope you had a good day sharon.x

Hi sharon

I only have to touch the scar on my back and I get a sharp pain in my right nipple, this is due to nerve damage; You will have an uncomfortable feeling around your chest and shoulder for quite some time to come but I promis it will get better with time, if you are up to it swimming may help as it did me, I am just waiting for my local pool to reopen and I will be stright back as I believe swimming is the best exercise due to the gentle nature of it. You may also experience coughing up of phlem, this is a persistant problem of mine especially when trying to eat, I think you may have to accept that things may never be normal as before the operation but you adjust over time and you will reach your new normal. It is a real shame you had a leak but everything about this type of cancer is so unpredictable as you may already know by reading through the many threads.

Take care,

Steve