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Chemo after an esophagusectomy

Posted by bob5246 @bob5246, Oct 29 11:30am

My husband had an esophagectomy on December 18, 2025,
He had many complications and was in the hospital for 6 months.
He now has metastasis to the liver. They are going to give him chemotherapy, which he did not have before the surgery.
Can someone tell me if they had chemo, and how it made them feel?
Also, how long does it take?

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mrgvw | @mrgvw | 6 days ago

Assume his surgery was in 2024. Quite unusual to have no neoadjuvant chemo treatments before esophagectomy... unless he was a stage 1. So my first question... what did his post-op pathology show? Many positive lymph nodes? Because for him to now show liver mets so soon after esophagectomy is unusual... but only goes to show that initial diagnosis is but a guess... not everything can be seen by scans and EUS.

But systemic chemo is a must now, along with immunotherapy if applicable. Yes... it will usually provide typical sude eggects like nausea, some hair loss, cold sensitivity, loss of taste buds, some neuropathy, etc. If doing Folfox or FLOT, he'll be re-scanned after 4 or so infusions to see how effective his treatments are. Having ctDNA bloodwork analyzed is another way to monitor treatment effectiveness. Hang tough.

Gary

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bob5246 | @bob5246 | 6 days ago
In reply to @mrgvw "Assume his surgery was in 2024. Quite unusual to have no neoadjuvant chemo treatments before esophagectomy......" + (show)
Profile picture for mrgvw @mrgvw

Assume his surgery was in 2024. Quite unusual to have no neoadjuvant chemo treatments before esophagectomy... unless he was a stage 1. So my first question... what did his post-op pathology show? Many positive lymph nodes? Because for him to now show liver mets so soon after esophagectomy is unusual... but only goes to show that initial diagnosis is but a guess... not everything can be seen by scans and EUS.

But systemic chemo is a must now, along with immunotherapy if applicable. Yes... it will usually provide typical sude eggects like nausea, some hair loss, cold sensitivity, loss of taste buds, some neuropathy, etc. If doing Folfox or FLOT, he'll be re-scanned after 4 or so infusions to see how effective his treatments are. Having ctDNA bloodwork analyzed is another way to monitor treatment effectiveness. Hang tough.

Gary

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@mrgvw
Yes, it was 2024, my typo. He did not have chemo prior because MSK felt it was a very small tumor and they could get it all with surgery. The surgeon at that point came into the room and stated he got it all. His issues after surgery were anastomotic leak and a hole in his stomach conduit. It eventually caused a fistula into his right lung. Believe me, if it could go wrong, it went wrong for my husband. He was being prepared for a Colonic Interposition last week to be performed on November 5. While being worked up, the CAT SCAN and PET scan showed activity in his liver. He is going for a biopsy today with the hopes that they can find a chemo that would be effective. He has lost 55 lbs. and has not eaten in 9 months.

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