Oesophegus Cancer after treatment symptoms

Really hope that things will improve for your Mum soon.

Thankyou so much x

hi katie, deffo worth getting back in touch with your mums team, when i was on a feed bottle jej before op, i pretty much stopped eating, bottle fed only, but just awful wall paper paste issues. is she trying to eat normal rather than use the feed tube.  have they mentioned any operation?

thank you jules

No they've recommended she dosnt have op as its too high risk for her and they said chemo and radiation alone to try, yes my mom wasn't eating and ended up going into hospital to be hydrated and fed through nose feeding tube. She still has the feeding tube but last few days is complaining of acid again and pain in the upper back. She still cant swallow foods well so is keeping the tube in for now. Thanks for the reply jules. 

no worries Katie, feel for you both, the nose tube isnt the nicest, amazing the results chemo and radiotherapy have had for others on here, even to the point where they can almost start eating normal again, let us know how she is doing, and if you need anything shout x

Thankyou so much, it helps to talk as its such a worrying time x 

no problem at all, keep in touch with us all,

Hi Katie

I had chemo and radiotherapy, no operation. It's normal for swallowing to become more painful after radiotherapy has finished and this usually eases after a couple of weeks. My back pain didn't come back after treatment ended.

I agree that she should phone her team to discuss her symptoms, they asked me to phone them if I was worried and that's what they're there for. 

I hope the symptoms ease soon. 

Take care,

Amanda x 

Thankyou Amanda, I will get my mom to call the care team tomorrow x 

I had the same treatment for a slightly more central tumour . As has already been said, swallowing difficulties following radiotherapy is normal . The radiation causes a lot of inflammation which takes some time to subside. It will improve after two weeks and then continue to improve more slowly.

One of my first symptoms pre diagnosis was middle and upper back pain . This disappeared after chemo when the tumour shrank and returned for quite a while after radiotherapy. If you think about it logically, if the tumour caused back pain (referred from the oesophagus), then when the tumour treated area is then inflamed from radiotherapy it may cause referred back pain in the same area until the inflammation subsides. Don’t panic and assume this is cancer pain returning. There is a logical alternative explanation.

The acid issues do seem to be a problem caused by radiotherapy, I have never had reflux before but now have to take acid suppressants because of stomach erosions caused by the radiotherapy ( even though my stomach is nowhere near the treatment site). Radiotherapy seems to create motility issues in the oesophagus as I have had stomach issues ( at the bottom of the Oesophagus) and speech issues ( at the top). 

if your mother is given anti acids make sure they give her proper advice about supplementation as anti acids can cause nutritional deficiencies and taking particular compounds of supplements that are more easily digested in alkaline conditions is important. I can give more information if it would be helpful but just for example calcium citrate can be digested in alkaline conditions but calcium carbonate can’t. 

On the upside ( don’t want to speak too soon)  but I’m in remission now for 18 months. I wanted to wait for my next scans in June so as to not tempt fate but when I initially joined the forum I found any positive stories encouraging after all the doom and gloom from Dr Google’s statistics..

best wishes to your mum and if I can give any more information please ask.  I have become very well informed over the last two years. You really need to be on the ball with consultants and question everything.