Hi all I'm new to this, have underling medical conditions and now found out that I have Cancer of the Oesophagus and just going for my last radiotherapy treatment don't know what happens next
Can you tell us where the cancer is situated. I would say that you have had an endoscopic examination, & maybe a CT and PET scan. But the position of the cancer can tell people what you may need to know. Was it Radical Radiotherapy? How many treatments were you given?
What usually happens is you don't feel unwell whilst having the radiotherapy, it's a week or two later that you start to feel the effects of treatment. And that will require med's for any symptoms you experience. It's all individual, no 2 people are alike, so you will have med's that YOU require.
Oncology will arrange an appointment in around 1 to 2 months. Because the radiation will remain active for approx. 2 months & the oncologist needs this as it will have time to do its work. But before they do you will need another endoscopy which will take small biopsies for cytology to examine, to see if the radiotherapy has worked. Also expect another CT scan, maybe a PET scan although the PET scan may not be needed.
Then your oncologist will have the full picture so to speak. And he / she will give you the results, hopefully clear of this awful cancer. But (please don't let this frighten you) if they find any metastasis or movement to other area's, they will give you a few options on how you want to proceed. You say you have underlying conditions too. So they will factor this in & tell you whether it's safe to have a particular treatment.
But for now, be positive, chat to people on here for support, you get great replies which can take some weight off your shoulders.
I'm crossing my fingers for you, & as I always say, " Don't worry about something that may never happen".
Many thanks for your reply, in response to this yes I did have a Endoscopy and CT and PET Scans plus 6 Biopsy which was extremely painful and exexcruciating would not reccomend to anyone. As to the position I am unsure all I know is it is 4" long I have just finished my Radiotherapy after a weeks worth and it was not painful or anything I was expecting alsorts, so let's hope this works, I was told I may expect some pain in the next week or so but hopefully not like it was when it was first discovered when I was eating it was like food was stuck and so painful I could not swallow or breath. I go back for more Scans etc in 8 weeks and can't wait.
My mum had 20 treatments of radiotherapy over 4 weeks. So if you've ONLY had 5, perhaps that was all that was needed. It sounds like a good sign to me. And your suffering from the R'therapy will be shorter as you have less radiation in your body. I knew you'd need more scans. But it's only to see if the radiotherapy has worked & to make sure it hasn't spread.
If it was worse initially, you would have needed at least 2, maybe 3 weeks of radiotherapy. So they give what they believe is enough to destroy the cancer, & 5 doses makes me think the oncologist isn't worried. Just my opinion based on the people who I talked to having radiotherapy at the same time as my mother. The majority were having more than 5.
And you haven't mentioned chemo which would be combined with radiotherapy if things were really bad. I am very hopeful that things will be good. I want them to be, I'd love to hear you getting the all clear after the scans. But if you don't, there are so many other treatments that can help. And if possible, they try to be non invasive or perform keyhole surgery. Things have improved so much in 15 years (my dad also had OC), so please don't worry. 1 final point, DO NOT surf the net for opinions, anyone can make a website, you'd get duff info that may cause you to worry. Just stay on here, keep us updated, & watch how many people want to help.
Many thanks again for your reply hope your mam is doing well and yor dad. I did go for tests also for the purpose of a Operation but I am not well enough for this, and kemo was to dangerous don't know if anything was to do with me having Epilepsy or Sever COPD as to surfing the net wouldn't even dream of it. The thing is I smoke and this was the first thing I said bet its to do with smoking but no was the reply. That does not help being smoking for 45 yrs, tried everything but just can't stop, and it certainly does not help, so now have made appointment for Hypnotherapist to help me now , so allset to go for all in
My dad had the worst luck. He had 2 months of chemo followed by the Ivor Lewis all day surgery. But he made the 5 year remission target. But as he had a huge variety of tablets, they made him giddy at times. At 3am one morning he went across our landing to the toilet. But his foot slipped on the top stair & he fell to what eventually his death. That took 39 days of watching him on a ventilator. When that could not supply enough oxygen to breath (at 100%) we had to sign forms for life support withdrawal. And we watched for about 25 minutes as he gasped for air. He wasn't aware as he was sedated. Then the ITU gave us the paperwork to take to the council building in town. But a doctor put the wrong cause of death. Which meant we had to go to the mortuary 3 days later to formally I.D. dad as he lay in his casket.
My mum is terminal even though the original tumour & biopsies were clear. They just wanted to be sure, so mum had a CT which highlighted growing nodules in her lung. And there isn't a cure. So the average lifespan for this diagnosis is 9 to 18 months. But that is only an average. I know a person with the same diagnosis, that was 6 years ago. I'll take 4 good years, & I'll treat her like gold. As long as quality of life is good, we will continue to enjoy life.
The chemo as you are aware targets all cells, good or bad. My thinking is that with COPD, this may cause more damage to your lungs. Epilepsy is something I don't know about despite my cousin having it. So I won't make any suggestions about this.
My mum gave up smoking in 1985, but it does damage the lungs. But quitting will stop the damage. I think you are very brave for saying you smoke. But in all honesty my dad never touched cigarettes, yet he still got cancer. 50% of people have the cancer gene, some get cancer, some don't. I also think vaping is potentially dangerous. But just stopping after 45 years must be hell. You could also try acupuncture as well as hypnosis. Some people just have a small empty biro casing to suck on. I hear that it has had some success.
Very glad you don't surf, even I could set up a site pretending to be an expert, yet having no knowledge, or worse, bad advice. I call these people "Pseudo Doctors". Potential for real trouble on these sites.
But let's end on a positive note. If you cannot have surgery or chemo, maybe you could have low dosage radiotherapy. And they can target the cancer to within 2 mm's. So only the rogue cells are the target as opposed to chemo that doesn't differentiate good from bad.
And again, "Don't worry until you have something to worry about".
I will always give you any support or answers that are factual on this forum, as will other community members.
