Diagnosis....

Hi Lori, this sounds very similar to the staging process I went through. The pre-op will have been for the laparoscopy which is the final part of the staging process.They don't actually do anything just take a look internally to ensure the cancer hasn't spread. It was very quick, I was under for less than an hour and think I was in and out of the hospital within about 4 hours.

From memory my staging journey looked something like this -

Endoscopy with biopsies taken - warned it was very likely I had oesophageal cancer

CT scan

EUS (endoscopic ultrasound) then later the same day had meeting with consultant to confirm I had cancer and advise initial staging

MRI of liver (after something noticed in EUS)

PET

Staging laparoscopy

It was all a bit of a whirlwind at the time with lots of calls from the hospital arranging various scans and appointments. Once the staging was complete I then had another meeting with the consult where they confirmed the diagnosis and the treatment plan.

I was told early on I definetly had cancer and I'm not sure if the process is any different for high grade dysplasia but the staging process your dad is going through sounds very similar to what I experienced.

Kind regards,

Chris

Well I will keep everything crossed for you , I had endoscopy in June and was told at the time it was cancer biopsy x6 taken , met with surgeon week later told there was no evidence of cancer in the samples but as the endoscopist was so sure they would treat as ulcers and redo endoscopy two weeks later , I was so confused and delighted and went out with the family to celebrate however 5 days later the call came in cancer confirmed at junction  , various scans taken later to confirm grade 3 . It was hard but had chemo radiotherapy and Ivor Lewis and now doing well , x

Hi Lori

Yes it’s pretty dreadful until everything is finalised and a treatment pathway is established. Then one gets swept up in the whole chemo thing while trying to get fit(ter). And then the brief respite before surgery during which time everybody gets nervous but resigned to what is necessary and hoping for the best possible outcome.

Your dad needs to stay positive so he needs to see that you are positive too. And you have every reason to be positive. It appears to have been caught early, so when the staging comes back hopefully there will be cause for celebration (in spite of having cancer), 

That’s all easy for me to say I was the patient; it’s harder for the family. But put on a brave face and travel this road with your dad, with fight and determination.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to reply/read my posts.

We are a bit further down the line now. Cancer is definitely confirmed T3N2M0. We had a meeting a couple of weeks ago with the surgeon at the hospital. Dad is deemed ‘curative’, and he will be having chemo and radiotherapy before the massive op. (The surgeon told my dad the basics of the op so as to not bombard him with how big the op actually is..I’ve read a lot so I know!)

We live in Newcastle and I have to say I feel so thankful we do, as the hospitals have been brilliant. Both the surgeon and the oncologist are incredibly positive, so we will be keeping everything crossed that it all works. Dad has had a load of fitness tests and the doctors were really encouraged with how he did. He’s having paclitaxel and carboplatin every week for 5 weeks, along with 23 sessions of radiotherapy, then a break of 4-6 weeks before the op-he starts his treatment next week, and has his planning ct scan today. 
Dad is going through all the emotions currently-anger, sadness, worry, pessimism, so we are trying our best to help him through it. 

Lori