Questions

Sorry if this a dumb question. what was the diagnosis as may be able to help you 

• Hi Zoot , he has been diagnosed with a tumour at the oesophagogastric junction 

Hi, so sorry that you're joining this club. The big question is if they think its operable or not as this will determine treatment.  I'm guessing that your husband has just had the endoscopy.  They'll need to do a CT scan and PET scan, endoscopic ultrasound and laproscopy to be able to stage it. Will be worth asking about a timeline for these investigations.  There is a lot to learn...it really is a whole new world. They should give you a pack of information.  

I hope it goes as well as it can.

1. Take care 

H Patricksmum

Sorry to read that your husband has been recently diagnosed, but welcome to the forum, where you will be able to get a great deal of support. The fact that you are seeing the surgeon in a couple of days sounds promising, from a question point of view, I imagine that it is everything you have already thought of, i.e. How long wil the surgery take, what is the expected recovery time (this will be an average based on statistics) what are the side effects and visiting expectations. 

 If your husbands oncologist has already confirmed that there are no additional spots of OC in other areas of the body and surgery is the way forwards then it looks like your husband has caught this in time

Best of luck with the surgery

Lowe'

Hi

My tumour was the other end so his operation will be different from mine.

You should take a pen and paper with you and make sure you or surgeon write down important facts it is surprising.  how quick you get confused with exactly what he said. And if not sure what is involved ask him to draw a simple sketch. I am very fortunate as i live in Northern France and the health service in France is brilliant.  I was assigned to an ENT Specialist surgeon who turned out to be one of the best Surgeons in Northern France. He explains everything in simple to understand ways and draws sketches showing what he is going to do in the operation.

Judge the surgeon's attitude. does he appear down to earth and kind and caring and not dismissive he may be a good surgeon but if not easy to deal with it will make it hard for you . there are plenty of good caring surgeons out there so don't be afraid to change him.

Try as hard as you can to be calm and not tense things will sink in a lot easier.

Number and write down all the questions you want to ask and tick them off once you have got the answers. we did not do that at first and came away from meetings forgetting to ask important questions.

How big do they think the tumour is.

How much is it likely to grow before treatment.

Will the 1st phase of treatment be Radiography and Chemo

Will he have a CT scan and PET scan if so when

I have recently discovered there is huge organisation that deals with Throat cancer. it is so useful as it will tell you all about his cancer why he most likely got it, what treatment is available. what are the like after effects . what help is available finance wise. Etc and they have chat lines for anything you want to talk about.

Throat cancer foundation.com.

good luck and please let me know how you got on

\Mick

Thankyou Zoot. Pen and note book ready for this afternoon.