Secondary cancer in the lymph nodes

Dear Frank,

Sorry to hear your news, I hope that you are able to build up your strength, is eating stll difficult after your op? I don't remember seeing you here before, so welcome to the group. 

Best wishes 

Dear Frank, Sorry to hear your news. I know that losing weight and having difficulty swallowing is a big problem and I was in a similar position during a 2-month hospital stay. They tube-fed me but I still lost weight - even more than you did, as I had a large hole in my stomach and couldn't eat at all - only sip water. When my body repaired the hole - given the chance the body will do this, which is amazing, my Greek surgeon brought me tubs of greek yoghourt and a bottle of Greek honey to drizzle over. It's easy to swallow, tastes good and is also very good for the stomach. It helped me. Maybe this would help you also.  All good wishes to you.  Rainie x

Sorry to hear your news.  My brother in law had similar issues and they gave him weight again drinks, can’t for the life of me remember the name of them.  See if you can get prescribed some of them as they give you calories and vitamins in liquid form.  

I think those drinks were called ensure, I remember my Mum having them years ago. Good luck Mr Zapper.

The ones I was thinking of were fortisip but there are many and you can make your own too. Details here. https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/coping/physically/diet-problems/managing/putting-on-weight/high-calorie-drinks 

Hi, I'm new to the group, I have been a member of the oesophageal cancer community since November 2016. I've been living quite well since I had the surgery in October 2016, no major issues until February this year. Even then the tumours were small and not doing anything, which baffled my consultant surgeon. It's only since September that 2 of them have become aggressive. They said after the surgery that I had a 20-25% chance of survival up to 5 years, so I think I've done quite well. Usually it's aggressive and the surgeon said he was surprised I had lasted so long because it was present in 5 out of 9 lymph nodes removed during the Ivor Lewis oesophagectomy. He reckoned after 2 years without a recurrence I had a good chance of being clear for a while. Sorry for the ramble. Kind regards Frank.

Oh Frank so nice to see you, i followed you when my husband got his diagnosis of oesophageal cancer.

i am sorry to here your latest news, as others have said you can get  prescribed  ensure drinks hubby had them and all different flavours.

So pleased i came here to have a catch up.

Take Care Ellie xx

Hi Frank! Would radiotherapy be an option? As my tumor did grow and made me cough it shrunk him. Pet

I think the oncologist said that she would see me in 3-4 weeks so I'm a bit clearer in my head now. I am writing questions to ask her and I will ask about radiotherapy to see if it could be an option. Certainly would target the tumour causing the coughing fits. Thanks for the suggestion. Kind regards Frank.

Hi Ellie, I wish it was under better circumstances that we meet again. I do remember the ensure milkshakes before I had the surgery. I got to about a month before the surgery and I couldn't even swallow the milkshakes. They stayed suspended at the valve joining the oesophagus to the stomach until I had to bring them back up. I will ask about them as I think I could keep them down now. If you don't mind me asking, how is your husband? I hope he is keeping well. Kind regards Frank.