Esophageal cancer treatment: Anyone have good experiences to share?

Breezed through mine, constipation at first, but it too subsided. I’d highly recommend the hydration treatment the day after chemo and drink plenty of fluids, it really dehydrates you.

Earnest
I had 28 chemo and radiation treamtents for EC and it worked. My tumor is now gone. I did have some side affects including caughing and being tired all the time. Scans are clear now. I'd be happy to answer questions.

Thanks Don. I'll write a more detailed post tomorrow in response. It's late. Gotta get to bed. Have treatment early morning.

I had 56 radiations (28 proton and 28 photon) and 8 Chemos (4 FOLFOX and 4 Carbo-taxol) and have done fine. I was a little tired. I did get fluids a few times. That helped a lot. All in all, it was not bad at all.

Good morning Don. Picking up where I left off yesterday. So I've been having kind of a rough time so to speak, and I look for encouragement from support groups like this one. Up until your post I've been seeing nothing but negative reviews. And trust me, I've had enough negative in my travel through this cancer. The first thing was when I had this feed tube inserted into my colon. I'd heard about people regaining consciousness during surgery, but it didn't cross my mind until my actual surgery. And I do not mean later. I had a rude and EXTREMELY PAINFUL awakening. It seemed to me that I became conscious while still on the operating table, and the only way I can explain it is that I felt like a 2,000 pound great white shark had just grabbed hold to my side trying to eat me. My eyes never opened, I just remember seeing black, but I know that I was coming up off of that table and two people pushed me back down. I then lost consciousness again and layer woke up in the recovery , still suffering , but not as traumatic as before. I heard the nose say twice to give me some fentanyl. Just so you know, I'm a jokester. So when I heard the nurse say fentanyl, I asked her, " Isn't that the stuff that's killing people on the streets?" She laughed and assured me that it was perfectly safe in a controlled environment such as the hospital. It did help. Just for laughs, when they wheeled me to my room, I told them I can walk to my bed from the hallway, which they brought me up in a bed. So I only had on the one gown covering my front, and you know butt out. My room was on the right, and I turned to the left and just cracked up laughing. There were two or three young Amish girls visiting someone in that room. So I laughed and told the orderly that I'm about to " Moon the Mennonites." 🤣🤣🤣 anyway, fast forward to my first chemo. About 15 minutes into it, I started having a bad reaction. My stomach started hurting badly, so they stopped, gave me something, I think Benadryl, and made it better. We were able to continue without further incident. I'll stop her because this is getting long. Let's keep the conversation going though. Be blessed.

Thank you SaffronCat. That helps. Thanks for chiming in. Keep on encouraging.😄👍

Thanks Luisc. That's encouraging 👍 Please keep helping us newbies. Then we can encourage those coming after us. I never thought that so many people had cancer, let alone how many types exist. Bless you🙏

I came through my 5 chemo (carbo/taxol) treatments and my 28 radiation treatments without side effects except for about every 3-4 days after treatment I was fatigued. After my treatments were over I did have 2 weeks or so of what I would categorize as horrible side effects. If you have the right meds though it gets you through it. Nausea, I was given Zofran (Ondansetron), but it didn't work well, Phenergan suppositories worked much better. Also for esophageal spasms (which made me throw up anything I'd try to drink/eat ) was prescribed hyoscyamine which you let dissolve under your tongue up to 6 x a day. I also received supplemental fluids at the infusion center probably 4-5 times which helped rehydrate me. When I took the hyoscyamine(antispasmodic), I'd wait 30 min and then eat/drink soft, liquids, not too cold and not too hot. I also had symptoms of copious amounts of mucous secretions. Mucinex worked for that. Spit out as much mucous as you can because mucous irritates the stomach. After the 2 weeks immediately after radiation treatments I didn't need the anti-spasmodic, mucinex, phenergan, and you'll be able to eat colder and hotter foods, liquids. Albeit the amount of food I can take in is about 1/3rd what I took in before. My throat is slowly decreasing in pain, discomfort. My stamina is slowly increasing. I'm taking small walks in my yard every day, doing more housework (as tolerated). I nap when I feel I need to. Eat 4-5 very small amounts of a balanced diet a day. Always get in your protein. Next for me is my surgery in July. I will have the lower 3rd and 30% of my stomach removed. I will have a J-tube (feeding tube in my small intestine) inserted during surgery. I will not be able to eat/drink for about a month while the surgery heals. Dietitians will work with me on my tube feeding supplements and work on getting my bowels to be regular and not diarrhea. The feeding tube will only be in about a month or so, then I will gradually learn to eat/drink again and in the right amounts with supplementary things like Metamucil to help with elimination. So as you see it's a journey with hope sprinkled here and there with the ultimate goal of being without cancer. I hope and pray your journey is better and better and you are successful. I lean on my faith for the most part.

Hello. I'll just call you tre for short, if you don't mind.
Thank you for sharing your story. It is both inspirational and candid. No sugar coating the facts. I also appreciate the fact that you make mention of your faith. I'm walking in faith through this journey as well. Thanks for the part about mucus. I've been having a lot of mucus and it aggravates the heck out of me. I'm going to ask if I can take Mucinex, because that crud is nauseating. Praying for you🙏

Nice picture, @treh00jamc. Please add it to your profile too. See how in the Help Center: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/help-center/

I wish you all the best as you gain strength and prepare for your upcoming surgery. You might appreciate this related discussion:
- Esophagectomy surgery: Want to know what to expect
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/esophagectomy-surgery/