Hello to everyone,
This question concerns my mother who is 83.
She underwent 20 doses of Radical Radiotherapy with the last dose on xmas eve 2020.
She had a PEG feeding tube fitted prior to the therapy.
Again, prior to treatment, she had a CT scan, a PET scan & an endoscopy.
A tumour was found in the upper oesophagus, very near the top.
We were told these were Squamous cells that were infected, & Radical Radiotherapy was the way to go.
But they also found nodules that were benign on the lungs.
Recently my mother had another Endoscopy with biopsies taken. The cells were clear of cancer & the tumour had disappeared.
Now it gets interesting & very worrying.
There was a 5 cm stricture at the base of the oesophagus that stopped the endoscope passing through.
So she had another CT contrast scan, & today we received news that these nodes had grown.
Unfortunately I don't know how much larger the nodes are, but if they are growing it seems that there is a cancer on the lungs.
Our liaison at hospital would not divulge any more details, did she not want to give us this horrific news, & would she rather our oncologist tell us.
We are due to meet our oncologist next Tuesday. & we are both terrified at what he might say.
After a little research, I found that when the nodes are still growing that cancer is a high possibility.
This research told me that the cancer has a 40% probability of being malignant.
Has anyone had this diagnosis?
And what was the prognosis?
Is it down to palliative care for my mother?
Or are there ways that can fix this?
I really think she would turn down any major surgery, she stated that when the initial cancer was found.
Could she be looking at months, years, or is it down to the individual?
She does not want to be undergoing any operations or invasive techniques if this is terminal.
I would really like to know what options she has, & what to expect.
Thank you to everyone for reading my story about my mother.
I'd love to hear from people who recognise this content.
Regards,
Graeme.
Hi Graeme
I am so sorry to hear of your Mum’s diagnosis. My Dad has had a virtually identical diagnosis this morning. He seemed to be recovering well from oesophageal cancer which was lower down at the junction with the stomach. The intention had been for him to receive chemo then have surgery however he had a seizure after the first chemo session so they changed his treatment to another type of chemo and radiotherapy. He completed this in August 2019.
He had a PET CT scan in October 2020 which was clear. At the start of this year he had started suffering some pain in the lower abdomen and a friend who had lost her Mum to breast cancer said to push for a further scan. We were told that he had cancer in the lymph nodes and this morning we saw his consultant with a view to starting palliative chemotherapy.
Dad was told the same as your Mum he would have a maximum of 18 months and the Xelox chemo would only give him 3-4 months longer. The side effects sound horrendous and are such that as he is still quite active and is eating well we do not feel it will be of any benefit. We’ve decided it would probably give him less quality of life and not to go ahead.
I would also like to thank Chris for the link to the clinical trials. I am going to ring Dad’s nurse practitioner in the morning to discuss this.
I just pray that there can be some hope of recovery for both of your Mums 
Jackie
