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Is there still hope?
Good Morning Everyone,
My uncle who lives in the Dominican Republic was having nausea and everything he would eat or drink he could not keep down. He also would burp really loud and hiccups. My mother took him to the doctor and they ran tests which revealed he had a mass however the mri was not able to show where exactly. They did a surgery “to try to remove the mass” but closed him back up because the mass was too big and it was touching important organs (liver stomach and pancreas). while in there they took biopsies which they sent to a lab. due to not having the resources the biopsies were sent to florida who indicated it would take 20 days to receive the results. we are still waiting. my uncle was inserted a feeding tube through the incision they did which keeps getting clogged. yesterday my mother was told they were going to admit him to the cancer institute to give him pain meds because he is in pain. my mother is completely destroyed and keeps saying this is the end. note: they still have not
seen an oncologist nor we know what kind on cancer it is and what stage. what are the possibilities this can be treated? how do i keep my mother strong? please help
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Lissy3118, I think the answers to your questions depend on an accurate diagnosis. I hope that the cancer institute that you have mentioned will be able to provide that quickly.
In my wife’s case, we obtained her diagnosis in NC, where we live, and then we called the phone number on one of Mayo’s many web pages, and they were very well organized to enroll her as a patient. Fyi.
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3 Reactions@lissy3118, I agree with @dave640. Next steps will be determined once a diagnosis has been established. I hope that you get the results of the biopsy soon and that once your dad is admitted to cancer center, he will be seen by a team of cancer specialists.
I know you are also worried about your mom and how you can support her. While your dad's situation does seem very serious, it does not mean the end. With my mom in dealing with my dad's diagnosis, I found it helpful to buy her a binder. In this binder she kept the names of doctors, dates and procedures and even tracked his symptoms. It gave her something to do and writing things down helped control the thoughts whirling in her head. And frankly it also gave her something to hold onto when going to the hospital. While she treated it like a security blanket at times, it proved to be extremely useful in keeping track of things. Sometimes the nurses would rely on her records to cross reference things.
Do you live close to your parents? Might a binder be helpful for her? Might your father travel to Mayo Clinic in Florida to be seen?
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4 ReactionsVery good idea about a binder, journal, diary!!! I wish I would have thought of it 3 years ago when I was experiencing the adventure of esophageal cancer. Now that it looks like I will be going thru almost the exact same adventure 3 years later, I'm going to start a journal!!!
Lissy, I hope your Father goes to Mayo in Florida. They are my #1 care team here in MN.
You & your Mother will no doubt go thru many roller coasters of emotions together. I have faith that you & Mom will know what to do for each other at each given moment. Those strong feelings of empathy & support come naturally out of the love for each other. Supporting each other will transend to the support that your Father will need also. Keep up your strength, pray for strength to endure this hard adventure. And remember it's totally ok to be mad, sad. These emotions are important to let out for the healing process. Write down your words when your angry, dig a hole or start a bonfire and burn the paper. Sounds rather silly I know but believe me........... it does help.
Lori
Cancer round 2
LIVIN THE DREAM!!!
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3 ReactionsLissy, I'm sorry for mischaracterizing your Uncle.
I believe he has esophagus cancer .There is great hope get him to a oncologist soon . A good surgeon can remove part of the esophagus and replace it with part or your small intestine I had this done Put your hope in God I am praying for you Amigo.Rik from Florida.
I also have had esophageal cancer with large tumor in lower esophagus. They did not think I was a good candidate at age 78 to remove section of esophagus, so I have had 28 days of radiation and chemo. The last CT scan showed nothing new and nothing growing. I am now waiting for final PET scan and endoscopy to confirm I'm cancer free. And if so we are planning tour to Nova Scota and PEI Canada in May. We will sign up the same day. There is hope!
So they removed your cancer with radiation? Hoping the best for you!
Creating a binder and recording all the information related to the medical issue is very helpful. My wife Charlotte has done that from the beginning when I just could not swallow food and went to ER and eventually was diagnosed with esophageal cancer with tumor in lower esophagus. In my case they did not want to do surgery but first 3 chemo treatments shrunk the tumor by 40%. There is always hope. Let us know what the diagnoses is?
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