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Fit 61 year old man, newly diagnosed with stage III adenocarcinoma
Esophageal Cancer | Last Active: Nov 22, 2025 | Replies (17)Comment receiving replies
@colleenyoung I was feeling more & more optimistic every day, and (oddly) eager to start chemo. But I got a call from my oncologist this morning that has really shaken me. She said that after discussing the results of last week's EUS with the surgeons, they now want to delay treatment (again) and do a diagnostic laparoscopy. They're looking for cancer cells in the peritoneal fluid, and if they find them, they will upstage me to stage IV, and no longer consider my cancer curable. I'm really struggling with this news, and finding it very difficult to remain focused on "what we *do* know, right now". In fact, I think this is even worse than the time between initial discovery of a lesion and staging.
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@stevenyc, I can imagine that that news is unnerving and the news hard to take. The good news is that your team is being very thorough. If there are cancer cells in the peritonial fluid, you want to know about it and deal with it head on. While stage IV is technically no longer curable, you can live well with stage IV.
But like you said, the focus now has to be on what you *do* know. You know you have cancer. You know that you have a proactive oncologist. You know that no matter the results of the laparoscopy, you will deal with it. You know you have people here on Mayo Clinic Connect who have walked the path before you and will journey with you.
When are you scheduled for further testing of the peritoneal fluid?