Early days

Hi JoJo.H.1985,

Are you sure they aren't doing a staging laparoscopy? That is what they did for me after my PET scan. It's quite quick key hole surgery. I was only in hospital for a few hours and went home that afternoon. They do it to have a look around internally and check the cancer hasn't spread before planning treatment.

The Ivor Lewis oesophagectomy is major surgery so they do a number of checks to make sure the cancer hasn't spread before they plan it. In my case the surgeons didn't even really discus a treatment plan until they had finished all the staging tests. 

Kind regards,

Chris

Thank you Chris. That’s really helpful. That might be the case. 

I just want them to take it away. She is really struggling to consume anything. She is on these shake things that they gave her but she has good and bad days with them. 

How long did it take for you to have a plan in place? 

I hope your ok and doing well now.

Jo

At the time it felt like it was taking forever but the time between my first endoscopy where the suspicion of cancer was first raised and my first chemotherapy treatment was about 6-7 weeks. That was end of October having my first endoscopy, followed by a CT scan, an EUS (endoscopic ultrasound), an MRI scan, a PET scan and the a staging staging laparoscopy to having my first chemotherapy treatment about 2 weeks before Christmas. I only had an MRI because they wanted to double check something on my liver which fortunately turned out to be nothing but I think all the other tests are fairly standard.

Best wishes to you mum. I had the shakes post op and although they didn't taste the best they helped me keep my weight up when I couldn't eat much. It's important to stay as well nourished as possible. 

Hi JoJo

When I was diagnosed I thought that it would be a simple cut and shut: snip out the affected few centimetres and rejoin. But the surgery for oesophageal cancer is much more radical than that. So they do loads of tests and scans to establish whether surgery is the best option for the patient depending on the tumour type, its staging and the patient’s health and fitness.  

Chemo can often commence 4-6 weeks after diagnosis, once the staging has been done and a treatment path has been agreed by the multi disciplinary team, the MDT.

Unfortunately it’s not a quick fix.

Hi Jo,

Brent is correct in what he says about timescales...i am going through the same process .

here is where im at on the journey...

Planned Pathway.
endoscopy 18/5/2019.......biopsies takes from oesophagus....told 99.9% certain cancer .....await next communication and steps.
CT Scan 23/5/2019.......
follow up 29/5/2019 ......Confirmed CO T3,N1, M0 
MDT meeting 3/6/2019.....positive feedback from MDT...pathway considered "curative"
Pet Scan 12/6/2019........... positive result from PET, Cancer has not spread anywhere else for now..
pre op Laparoscopy 14/6/19 - all good
Laparoscopy 25/6/2019....all ok 
pre op physiotherapy review 8/7/2019....breathing and fitness plan for during chemo/Op
Myocardial Perfusion Test (heart stress test and scan) 11/7/2019.

now awaiting results of heart scan to determine chemotherapy route then hopefully Op.

So you-can see there is alot of detail to go through to ensure correct treatment path, obviously no plan is identical based on the individuals circumstances....just be patient and positive and dont be afraid to ask/ chase any questions of the Clinical nurse specialists allocated to your mum.

good luck

R.