Oesophageal cancer

My husband is four weeks post op having had the FLOT treatment prior to.  He too was told as relatively young and fit he was a suitable candidate for curative surgery.  We were all worried how traumatic and emotionally demanding the procedure would be but with the support of fantastic family and friends, we have had the best news ever that the treatment and op have been a resounding success.  I will not sugarcoat it and say it hasn't been difficult, the actual procedure is very tough on the body, but it's a battle well worth taking on for the ultimate result of being cancer free.  You will find the love and strength from those around you to get you through.  The light is at the end of the tunnel, grab it with both hands as we have done.

Hi Always Yellow. How old is your husband, if you don't mind me asking? I am 65. Julia

Hi Kells.  He is coming up 57, birthday this coming Monday and our post op meeting with the surgeons was the best birthday present we could have had in as much that histology showed the removed tumour and surrounding  lymph nodes (58) were cancer free. We were very lucky in as much that we caught the tumour very early by pure fluke, T2/3 without any symptoms, and he was determined to fight whatever obstacles were put in his way.  He handled the FLOT treatment very well with minimal side effects, hair loss, loss of taste and strange sensation to inside of mouth which subsequently meant he lost his appetite for a few days .. the worst element in my opinion was the side effects from the steroid usage.  He cleared the treatment by approx. 4/5 weeks before the op took place at Imperial College, Hammersmith.  The team were fantastic and we could not have wished for his recovery from the op to have gone any better either.  I won't again sugarcoat what you will experience and as emphasised all the way by your MDT, everyone is totally different.  However, as I tried to emphasise to him, it's like labour, temporary pain with a purpose and to beat it, you hit it head on positively.  He is now already on a soft food diet supplemented by a feeding tube overnight and is getting stronger every day.  We have our next meeting with the team in 10 days to discuss the sandwich treatment and fingers crossed will have a commencement date fairly soon.

HI, my partner had flot 8 weeks then the surgery in May, afterwards another 8 weeks flot chemo, he finished treatment in September.  It was hard going but all has wen well and they removed the tumor and no spread.  He can eat most foods again the hardest one being bread or maybe steak so he will avoid for now but he is positive, he had  a feeding tube in after surgery but its out now and he has put back on 2 stone and looks well.   He has had his throat stretched twice so far with no luck and has a follow up app in 4 days we are hoping they can help with this again.  He still gets fatigue quiet a bit and nausea and vomiting but overall hes doing well and is out and about able to drive himself etc...Its a long road to full recovery but personally I would say the surgery saved his life.  Try and stay positive and think this time next year it will all be behind you...

I will you all the best

Sam

Hi SamanhaN.  Our circumstances are very similar although as indicated earlier, we are yet to embark on the second phase of FLOT.  Can I ask why you partner had his throat stretched?  Was this due to swallowing issues when moving on from the soft food diet??

I had minimal side effects with chemo. The same as your husband. I thought the steroids were worse than the chemo too, especially the insomnia.

Yes the Food is still getting stuck even after all the treatment he has had 2 stretches but its still happening a lot and he still very nauseous and vomiting after food a lot..he is in for review on Monday so hoping they can do something to help

How did your husband get on yesterday at his review?  Hopefully the team were able to offer some form of a solution for him?

OMG, he said exactly the same regarding sleep pattern when he's been so used to having a regular 7/8 hours a night.  I have to be honest, I'm not looking forward to the steroid usage for the second FLOT treatment, I'll have to dust off the tin hat again and decorate it with tinsel!!!

Ahhh I would say it wasn't much help, mainly told things are pretty normal and he needs to figure out what he can and cant eat himself but the Dr is going to contact the surgeon as his food is still getting stuck and he feels his throat is closed over again so he might need another stretch but she said he shouldn't need that so soon as its only been 6 weeks from the last so i don't know if that's worrying or not?  Hoping the surgeon will be in contact asap