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What is the timing for surgery (esophagectomy) after chemoradiation?
Esophageal Cancer | Last Active: Aug 22, 2023 | Replies (15)Comment receiving replies
Hi .....very good feedback. My issue is surgeon has had some surgery himself and cannot start surgery most likely before 12 or 13 weeks or more,,,.this becomes potential conflict between his schedule and my best time range for effective outcomes. Five weeks of chemo and radiation paid off with shrunken tumour so I dont want to give it a chance to fire up again. Thank you and wish you all the best
Replies to "Hi .....very good feedback. My issue is surgeon has had some surgery himself and cannot start..."
My husband was on track with his chemo / radiation regime , his 3 inch tumor in lower esophagus has shrunk some but early pet scan showed no “ hot spots”. His surgery was in time frame of 6 weeks after therapy. He came to UCLA for preop Angiogram ordered after Stress echocardiogram came back with poor results. The angiogram revealed 5 blocked ( main artery 100%) coronary arteries which earned him a free pass to 4 vessel heart bypass surgery two days later!!! Talk about a big wrench thrown in! But his thoracic surgeon saw him before surgery and feels we can still be in the good window of time to have his surgery 6-8 weeks after this bypass. So that is around 12-14 weeks after chemo and radiation. She is one of the top thoracic surgeons that have done lots of esophagectomies so I’m glad she feels we are still on course.
Hope this helps
Patti
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There are other surgeons... even within the same facility... no? The esophagectomy is a big ass surgery... no one surgeon will be in the operating with you... there will be at least two. Shoot... it's very crowded in the OR when they wheel you in! But if you really wanna stay with your surgeon... a few more weeks may not make any difference... they'll rescan you to be sure. All the best.
You contact me privately should you wanna chat about anything... especially the post-op journey. That is something unto itself!
Gary