I'm Ian, 47 and yesterday had a endoscopy following problems swallowing and food getting stuck, and pain under my left ribs. After raising with a GP, saw a consultant a week later, and 2 weeks after that had the endoscopy. To my horror the consultant advised it's not good news and showed me the pictures of a single 8cm malignant tumor 30cm down from incisors. 12 biopsies taken. CT with contrast taken today to allow staging. The tumor looked very bit as evil as you would imagine, angry, bleeding and leaving about 20% of my osofagus clear.
I'm convinced it's spread as I have now have constant pain in my rear left ribs since seeing the GP as well as under my left front ribs but hopefully this is just referred pain.
I'll see the consultant next week to discuss the findings of the biopsies and CT but I've made the mistake of consulting Dr Google and convinced myself my life is over OR if it's Stage 3 I will have the horror of surgery and the life change that comes with it (but is better than death). I feel constantly sick, can only manage fluids or protein shakes and completely devastated. Can anyone give any sense of what happens next, how long things take to get sorted and if surgery and recovery as bad as I'm reading. I'm scared to death and an emotional mess. Help.
