Hello, recently diagnosed 41 year old female

Very sorry to read this, but you are in the best place here to get support and advice. Hope everything will get sorted for you. 

Hello.

I have squamous cell too ( much later stage) but was treated with chemradiation ( which is more usual for squamous cell too) so I can’t give any helpful advice on the operation but there are lots of people on here who have had it.

in your case I would be going for a second opinion . It often changes treatment options. I challenged quite a few things which were subsequently adjusted. I would ask for the  biopsy report too . You want to be going into any treatment feeling fully informed and knowing you have explored all options. 

Hi there. Similar to you, I started out with an ulcer. This was initially biopsied and came back all clear (phew!). It was biopsied a second time on my follow up endoscopy 5 months later and this came back as cancerous.

Similar to yourself, mine didn't show up on the CT or PET CT scans either so I was sent for an endoscopic ultrasound which they said was required in other to try and establish a grading.

Given it had been caught so early, I was hoping for a solution that didn't involve major surgery but was told that was the only option.

I was 44 when I received this news and as a father of two young children I was absolutely devastated.

Its now coming up to a year since I got my initial diagnosis (7th October), my surgery is done and treatment is fully complete and i'm getting on with life pretty much as it was before. Eating, drinking and sleeping will always be different but those things aside, I really can't complain too much.

I hope for your sake that they have made a mistake and you don't need the opp but if you do, please do not despair.  I was in a pretty dark place when the extent of the surgery was explained to me and was absolutely terrified what life was going to be like afterwards but have to say its not been nearly as bad as I envisaged.

My advice, get yourself as fit and healthy as you possibly can in the period before your chemo starts. This will help you massively with whatever comes next. 

As per the previous comment. If you want a second opinion, ask for one. If you want to question the need for the operation, do it. I did all those things as I was desperate not to need major surgery.

Wishing you good luck and sending you positive vibes. You've got this!

Russ

Thank you so much for your lovely reply. I have two slightly older children, so I am finding it all rather overwhelming. It is great to hear from someone who has been in a similar situation and come out the other side.

Hiya

I was diagnosed in March with Barretts opesophagus with an adinocarcinoma in the lower oesophagus, Stage 1 and borderline resection or surgery but they opted for surgery, had the op. end of May

It is major surgery and I was advised to be a bit more active, I don't know how fit & healthy you are generally but I hadn't looked after myself that well, being an ex smoker and quite heavy drinker. 

I started walking to work instead of bus and stopped drinking 3 weeks prior to surgery, op. went really well, no problems and I was home on day 8 and given the all clear as no spread found, now on the road to recovery, there are lifestyle adjustments, mainly eating and sleeping from my perspective but I'm confident I'll get there

It is very worrying and when you first hear the term cancer you switch off and go numb, but to me (I'm no doctor) it sound like you have a very good chance to beat it, you're still young and it's been identified early

Good luck with whatever happens, keep strong, you can beat this