Well this is a tad annoying

I'm stage 4, my advice buddy is not to look online at survival rates and stuff like that as you will go down a dark hole. Believe in the medicine and be positive. 

Regarding the chemo buddy from my experience you don't need to be anxious. You sit in a room full of nice nurses who connect bags of the medicine to your pic line and it is slowly induced whilst youlay on your phone or laptop. My advice would be take really warm clothes as you will be sensitive to cold if on oxyplatin and ensure you rest when you get home. Obviously everyone reacts differently to the medicine, I was sick a few times on the day of chemo, but this I think was down to having to travel for 3 hours in start stop traffic. For my second round I rested before travelling and was fine keep your head up and be positive.

Thanks Mate, best of luck to you and the chemo info is really helpful. I thought I was unusually young for this, bloody hell!

I know mate they said I'm a freak case when I asked them how people my age cope with this they said there wasn't statistics available. I've actually started feeling better since chemo I couldn't eat before, but my stomach has settled which is great.

My symptoms so far have been tiredness, slight headache and dry skin. My advice in prep would be to get yourself plenty of warm clothes, get yourself a sensitive toothbrush and toothpaste and plentyf moisturiser dermol 500 it is great. If you have a pic line mate get yourself a bimbo protector for in the shower/bath. If you have any questions feel free to add and message me

Thanks Vinny, my wife's just about ready to measure my arm for a protector!... My name's John BTW, and I'll happily follow and message you just as soon as my old ass works out how to do it.

Hi Jmc16

Welcome to the forum, not a place you ever thought you would be I am sure, but certainly a great place to chat and get your own thoughts out of your head. 

You have already had a great response from Vinny, and I wanted to echo some of his words, but firstly to acknowledge that I am not the one going through treatment, my husband is, I am the one who came to the forum, as you have, looking for something, mainly positivity, good news stories, little did I know that my husband would in essence become one of those. 

Diagnosed with Stage 4 Oesophageal Cancer with secondaries in his lung, liver and lymph nodes, at the beginning of May 2020, T3N3M1 GOJ and given an extremely poor prognosis, even with treatment, he is still here, and doing really well. He has been on Chemo and immunotherapy every fortnight (almost) since diagnosis, and he is rarely overcome with side effects.. we know, everyone is different but if you can try to accept that without chemo things may be very different, so it in itself is a positive in sh*tty situation. 

Something I said to my husband when he was first diagnosed is, "None of us are promised tomorrow" we all believe we have years and years, but none of us really know, so I hope you can focus on the positives of what you know so far, once you have given yourself some time to get over the nauseating shock of being given such diabolical news.  For me the positives are that surgery is at this point seen as an option, the tumour is small and treatment will start quickly.  Have you been told which type of OC tumour you have? 

How are you feeling in yourself?

There is great support here at Macmillan, if you need anything either write here or call the helpline number below... 

I write a blog for my husband which you can read by clicking on the photo and then following the link in the profile... you have to scroll to the bottom to start from the beginning I think!

Good Luck 

Lowe'

Hi Lowe, thanks for the reply, I'm glad your husband seems to be improving and I hope things can keep turning around, seems like he has great support! 

My wife reliably informs me (she keeps me right) I have adenocarcinoma T2N1M0 , the lymph node it spread to is apparently "within the operable area". 

I feel OK and if the tumor hadn't started bleeding, causing anaemia which I noticed as my cardio at the gym was getting worse instead of better, I would never have know anything was wrong. Even now it's a barely discernable "feeling" which I'm not even sure if I can feel it or if it's psychosomatic . 

Best x

BTW.....My wife showed me your husbands blog, really helped!

Ok so it seems that you are on the right track with the chemo first, and it is a blessing that you noticed that bleed. 

From what I have read over the year on this forum, the adeno it seems more (in my opinion) to be effectively target by chemotherapy 

I remember when we were first informed, it felt like the bottom had fallen out of my world, but my husband was great, especially as he was alone in hospital when he was told.. He says, by the time he came home the next day he had made peace with the enemy and had decided to win.

Glad the blog helped 

Most people reading your post can almost certainly identify to some of what you are feeling right now. Uncertainty in an otherwise stable lifestyle is extremely disconcerting - a tad annoying even! But there are so many other emotions going through our minds when we get this diagnosis. Not least of which is how it could affect our loved ones. Many of us try to get some certainty by researching the internet. Unless you have a background in statistics this can mean even more uncertainty.

Like you when I was diagnosed I was fit and active, going to the gym and exercising several times a week, although I was a social drinker. I was a little older than you; I was 61 and newly retired, and enjoying the change of pace in life. My eldest son and his fiancé were planning their wedding. We were financially secure, holidaying often and things were looking good! Suddenly it seemed I had no future. No future happiness anyway. my diagnosis was not dissimilar to yours T2N0M0. 
Looking back, things moved on apace, but at the time the waiting was terrible. There was the prospect of chemo before surgery even! Why can’t they just cut it out? Sure a delay is bad! But I trusted my clinical team, my clinical nurse specialist became my new best friend and I research trusted sites like Macmillan and NHS. I became informed, shared my understanding and leaned on my support structure. 
Nowadays you are encouraged to get fit in the lead up to surgery but knowing no better I cancelled my gym membership thinking that chemo would incapacitate me.

I made my son’s wedding a few months after my surgery. I recovered from the surgery and my body slowly became accustomed to its new plumbing. A new normal established itself. Now, eight years post diagnosis I look back on those years and because I have a different outlook on life I am happier now than I was before. My wife and I have enjoyed travelling the world which has only stopped because of COVID. I eat what I want. I exercise as much as COVID restrictions allow. I am celebrating my 70th birthday this month.

This site is for sharing experiences rather than offering advice, however I would recommend that you keep going to the gym, you and those around you should not be afraid from seeking  help from friends and family. Most of all keep positive - this has an enormous effect on outcomes. Keep posting. It won’t be a pleasure trip but there is life to be had after this.

Thank you Brent, reading your post, and the similarities, has given me a lot more hope.  So happy your outcome has been so positive.  My wife is my rock (autocorrect changed that to "my wife is Kubrick" and I nearly left it) and she's making sure I keep up the exercise. 

A very happy birthday when it comes!