27 year old son has stage 4 oesophageal cancer

Hello Nicola53

I am so pleased that you have reached out to the forum, you are very welcome here, and although I cannot promise you will communicate with other Mum's you will be able to communicate with others' who have loved ones going through a same/similar experience.

You mention the tumour in your Son's stomach, this must have been a terrible shock, and as you state continues to be an extremely frightening experience, are you able to share any more of what his actual diagnosis is?

My husband has OC, He like your son is incurable, inoperable, palliative, but he has been on chemo/immunotherapy for 18 months, so I am a little concerned, are you saying that your Son will only be getting 6 chemo sessions, the 6 that he has just finished?

I apologise the delay in answering you, but I as you specifically asked to communicate with other Mum's it held back any of the responders leaving you a message. 

Please, let me know what you can, I will help, where I can and offer any support that I can. 

Thinking of you and your family at this time

Lowe'

Hello, 

I am not able to offer advice as such as I’m here because I’m caring for my dad but as a mum myself, I just wanted to reach out and say how sorry I am. I could not read your post about your son without reaching out and offering my sincere sympathies. It must be truly agonising and I hope you can find support from other parents :(

Hello Lowe

Thank you for your reply.  I'm really sorry to hear about your situation but,  pleased to hear  your husband is doing well and you are being positive and looking out for each other.  

1. Callum was diagnosed with gastroesophageal cancer  in May , it was a terrible shock.  I cant quite believe he was still in  work full time until 6th May, had an Endoscopy on 17th May and then transferred straight into our local hospital for PET/CT scans etc.  Life has changed since then,  in such a short time it had spread to his liver, peritioneal and lymph nodes.  After two weeks Callum was discharged from hospital with a bed and commode.  We had district nurses coming into the house twice a day, Callum was on a feeding tube because he couldn't eat and a syringe driver to control sickness meds and pain.   

He started the Chemo in June EOX and things did improve, he started to eat again , the tube and driver was removed end of June and we discovered Callum was HER 2 positive so is now on herseptin. 

Callum finished the chemo on 31st October and is waiting for his first scan off chemo.  He has 3 week cycles of Herseptin at our local cancer hospital. 

He has lost a lot of weight and struggles with his intake of food and is very up and down, he cries a lot which breaks my heart and I just don't know what will happen next.  The doctors cannot and will not tell us anything positive or reassuring , we are tumberling through, not know what to do next.   Callum is on private supplements and is having oxygen therapy which we are hoping has helped.

We are trying to be positive , walking, cycling when he feels up to it.   He gets tired and sleeps a lot, we have just booked a holiday aboard for christmas  which I am now questioning.

Sorry to go on but its really nice to have someone to talk to.  I hope you are ok and hubby is well xxx 

Thank you for reaching out and sorry to hear about your dad.  i hope you are both ok.

As a mum I never thought anything like this was possible which is very naive of me I know.  I have two amazing kids and cant quite believe how hard it is to watch someone you love suffer.

Love to you and your family.  Thanks again and take care xx 

Hi Nicola

Your family are really on a rollercoaster, I know some of what that feels like, and as we know, everyone is different, but I am glad to hear that Callum is on Herceptin, I really believe this targeted therapy has singularly been the biggest positive for Dal apart from his own positive outlook. 

Many of the experiences that Callum has had are different to Dal's, and I can understand that having those experiences have knocked Callum off his feet and in turn found you all scrambling and potentially walking on egg shells...  what I am hoping is that you are talking, openly about how he is feeling. 

Macmillan offer a 6 week free counselling service for anyone affected by cancer, and it is worth thinking about whether this will be something that the family may want to consider going forward, just to know this service may in some small well help you all know there is always someone to talk to. 

If you have not looked into apply for PIP payments for Callum, please do, you will find more information HERE  the weekly payments received will help towards travel costs, hospital visits and anything else that Callum needs.

Please feel free to read our Blog which may give Callum some ideas on foods to try? it has the latest post at the top, so you have to scroll down to see it all. 

There is no knowing what is around the corner, and that is why the professionals do not tend, early on, to offer great words of encouragement or positivity, and on the forum you will read, uplifting , sad, exceptional, and moving stories.  But then, there is no knowing what is around the corner for any of us, so we have to believe, that we can win, that we can keep going and take on everything that is thrown at us, I hope that Callum can find a way to do this, as I can only begin to imagine how difficult this is for him. 

How are things at the moment?

Lowe'

Sending you much love .. my heart breaks for you all… when you said Callum cries a lot just brought tears to my eyes.. is Callum Going to visit theOC forum himself…?? He may benefit from talking to thers in the same place. Even some positivity and less isolation. You will know him better than me but even your daughter too may benefit from counselling… just thinking of anything to bring you comort for your children… stay in touch ️ 

Hi, I feel your pain, I really do. My son who is 24, was diagnosed with incurable lung cancer 10 days ago. Like you I am devastated, he was fit and healthy and has never smoked. This all started 8 weeks ago with a persistent cough  We don't have his full diagnosis as they are still running tests to check for biomarkers and are ruling out other organs for it. He is my second child, my children are devastated for their brother and I feel sick in my stomach, all I want to do is cry and die right now as why him? why not me? Life is cruel.

I hope you find comfort from loved ones, your not alone. 

Hi 

thanks for your message. 

I'm really sorry to hear about your son. I'm sending you and your family all the love in the world.  Life is cruel but you must fight this awful disease with him.   Once the shock has gone you will get the strength to battle on.  Take care of yourself and good luck xx

Thank you for your reply and kind words.

He was admitted into hospital last Monday when going to see his oncologist as he had pain in his calf and they discovered he has blood clots on his lungs, they have put him on blood thinners, his lung with the cancer is struggling for oxygen and they should be doing a bronchoscopy this week as they have discovered that the tumour has grown and is causing issues in his brochial area and windpipe. He is stable atm and doing ok, I have travelled down from home to be with him  he is in fairly good spirits and I just want to get him through to treatment, I am terrified about the future but am focusing on each day rather than trying to look to far ahead x

My prayers and love are with you and your son He is so lucky to have you to see him through. 

much love,

louli x