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Earlier initial symptom of Esophageal Cancer?
EC literature almost universally cites as a reason for the common severity of this disease as its lack of early detection. By the time symptoms manifest themselves the tumors are entrenched, making treatment more complicated at best. I recently had a recollection which possibly sheds a little light on this issue and I'd welcome input from anyone who may have had a similar experience. I had always traced my first awareness of what was diagnosed as stage 3 adenocarcinoma to a "catch" in my swallow in mid-December, 2024. However, my wife noted that several months earlier I had commented that my many-decades old morning mug of coffee habit had declined and ultimately ended because "it no longer tasted good." I'm curious if this change in perception was an early sign of my disease. Parenthetically, and perhaps totally coincidentally, we both recalled that more than 4 decades ago my wife's initial perceived symptom of her first pregnancy was her fairly sudden aversion to her morning cup of Joe as well. Hardly a likely medical advance, but anyone else have a similar event?
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No... in talking with hundreds of us EC patients the past 4+ years, I cannot say that a change in taste buds was a presenting symptom of their disease. Certainly our taste buds are altered once treatments begin... but rarely in the months preceding. Chest pains, coughs, and difficulty swallowing are the most common... and yes, we all drag our feet in getting checked out... we prefer to give our cancers a big head start! If we're discovered at stage 1 or 2... it is usually by accident.
My Barrett hasn’t changed to cancer snd I pray it doesn’t. How I noticed something was chest and breast pain. The doctors did every chest pain test possible and all was good. All this started after I started talking an osteoporosis pill once a month. I continued to mention to doctors that medicine caused me to belch and gave me indigestion. I was advised the good out ways the bad with this drug. Long story short I was so uncomfortable my gastro doctor performed an upper GI snd found Barrett. My point is I believe we miss symptoms thinking it is something else I wish my cardiologist had said to me your heart is good it may be time to see a gastro doctor.
VLF
My gi doc did endoscopy and found my EC tumor back in 2022. He thought he was just going to stretch esophagus to make swallowing easier. After chemo and radiation treatment, the EC was gone. But the treatment was not without its challenges including feeding tube for a couple of months.
Don
In late 2019, my new family doctor in a new community asked how long I had GERD. I said about ten years. She recommended an upper endoscopy to double check. It showed a 2 cm tumor. Surgery was successful; no radiation or chemo needed so far.
What type of surgery was involved? Esophagectomy?
An esophagectomy and a follow up infection that required a three week of additional hospitalization and a home health nurse after that. It is a pretty major surgery so I can understand why some folks avoid it. Annual CT scans show no spread so I am considered cancer free.
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1 ReactionMajor surgery certainly, although minimally invasive procedure greatly lessons its physical impact. However, the post-surgical lifestyle changes are fairly dramatic, with months-long recovery period and likely permanent eating habit alterations. There is growing evidence of somewhat shortened lifespans if the surgery is declined, but depending on the age and overall health of the patient this may well be a lesser concern.
What stage was your esophageal cancer?
It was stage 2. It had not perforated the esophageal wall. In fact, they tried removing a via an endoscopy but could not do so.
sounds like my husbands experience. pre op staged as T2N0M0. after surgery pathology stated T1B N0 M0. he had pre-op FLOT (4 rounds) and post op FLOT(3/4 rounds) Good luck with your recovery! My husband is doing so much better now