New diagnosis, no symptoms

Posted by tonyjensen @tonyjensen, May 20, 2023

As the header said, I was just diagnosed with nodes on my liver on Tuesday. Thursday I had a second appointment for a rescan on the CT and it came back with growth on the esophagus and possibly on the lungs. All this comes as a shock as the only symptom I've had is a slight stomach cramp for the last couple of weeks.

Now, I am just fighting to arrange for a biopsy and referral into the oncology center locally. I know the prognosis isn't the greatest with that much involvement already and feel that time is of the essence. The lack of symptoms has me hopeful though that it might still be an early form in total. I'm just lost in the thoughts at this point.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Esophageal Cancer Support Group.

I started out having trouble swallowing, and endoscopy found cancerous tumor. I've now had radiation and chemo and the tumor is gone. So there is hope. Let us know what the docs plan next?

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The shock of a new diagnosis is tremendous. I am on my third cancer diagnosis. The first (breast cancer) was a complete shock, no one in my family had cancers and I was only 48. My world was turned upside down, the feeling of unreality was tremendous. Eventually, I did sort my way through the treatment options, got a second opinion when my oncologist and surgeon could not agree on if I should have a mastectomy. Be prepared to self advocate, ask questions, make sure you are dealing with experts, second opinions from top experts if there is disagreement about the right course of treatment. Good luck to you in your journey.

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Hi @tonyjensen, how are you doing? Did you get a biopsy? Any update?

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@colleenyoung

Hi @tonyjensen, how are you doing? Did you get a biopsy? Any update?

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Slow slow process. Still haven't met with oncology but according to the charts I've seen its ge junction tumor that moved to the liver as well. Frustrating. Gi docs don't want to triage incurable tumor anymore so turned it back to oncology... hopefully hear something from someone that knows what all these words mean.

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@colleenyoung

Hi @tonyjensen, how are you doing? Did you get a biopsy? Any update?

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Forgot to mention that a liver biopsy was performed.

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Late last night, got to speak with the oncologist for the first time. Stage 4 esophageal with spread to liver mainly. Until histology comes back on the biopsy, proceeding with the basic chemo every two weeks. I know it's not curable but livable and treatable I'm banking on. Too many things in this world that still need done, I'm not done yet.

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@tonyjensen

Late last night, got to speak with the oncologist for the first time. Stage 4 esophageal with spread to liver mainly. Until histology comes back on the biopsy, proceeding with the basic chemo every two weeks. I know it's not curable but livable and treatable I'm banking on. Too many things in this world that still need done, I'm not done yet.

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Good luck and prayers to you. Keep us updated (if you so choose).
Today is my husbands 7th chemo for stage 4. We speak to the oncologist shortly for his recommendation based on Bob’s last PET scan.

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