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Early Staging Process
Before my first endoscopy, I went in for a gastric ultrasound. They just called me back and told me that everything looked fine except for I had a fatty liver and a few gallstones. I specifically asked if everything else looked OK and she said that they didn’t see anything that would cause concern. I also went in for my endoscopy with ultrasound and CT scan WITHOUT contrast yesterday. The endo ultrasound detected a 5 cm mass in my esophagus and a couple of nearby lymph nodes. I’m still waiting on the CT scan results tomorrow. I will be meeting with my thoracic surgeon to go over them with me and hopefully start a treatment plan.
The nurse that gave me the gastric ultrasound results said my pancreas, stomach, liver, and gallbladder all look ok.
So I guess my questions are…
Are the results from the gastric ultrasound a good thing that maybe it hasn’t spread to anywhere else?
And why wouldn’t they have ordered a CT scan WITH contrast?
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This was the same with my dad. They said gastric ultrasound was fine. Found his on the endoscopy and confirmed with the CT. I think the ultrasound endoscopy is the best view so CT will most likely be the same. Petscan confirmed same results as CT
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2 ReactionsI'm not qualified to offer much of an answer to your question, but with respect to staging I suspect you will be catagorized Stage 3 given the lymph node involvement. However, there may be follow-up relative to the nodes to confirm whether there is active infiltration or whether they are simply "lighting up"/reacting to the primary tumor, which was/is the case with me. I suspect you will be going down the same treatment path as me--chemo and/or radiation. The latter has been increasingly debilitating for me--fatigue. Best wishes.
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3 ReactionsI was diagnosed yesterday stage 3. The lymph node/nodes in question are celiac. So I’m mentally preparing myself for chemo and/or radiation. I have to wait until May 5 for PET scan as there wasn’t any place in my area that could do it sooner
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3 Reactions@lulu3780, thinking of you as you prepare for your PET scan tomorrow.
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3 ReactionsThank you so much! I’m actually in the ER right now because of this crap 😩
So much mucus buildup out of nowhere causing me to gag and throw up every few minutes.
I haven’t been able to even keep down a SIP of water in two days.
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1 ReactionOh no, @lulu3780. I'm sorry to hear that you are in ER. Are they giving you hydration by IV? Will you stay overnight?
They gave me hydration IV and some stuff to numb my throat but it came right back up a minute after I swallowed it. I still had the gag reflex of excess mucus so it wasn’t worth taking.
A small word of caution on water intake. I'm on Strict NPO with nutrition provided by home pump, which I suspect is in your future. On water: although I was advised early on that small sips were OK and perhaps good, there appears little question that they contributed to my recently-completed second bout of Aspiration Pneumonia--six days inpatient-uhh. Your diagnosis, staging and tests have been very similar to mine, so I'm offering this caution. Best wishes.
On gag reflex--my pet peeve as well and an overall miserable experience. I took to carrying a hefty hospital mug to expectorate all excess fluids I hacked up--pretty much eliminating any thoughts of outside social activities. Excess clear mucus is a hassle, but especially if accompanied with sometimes vile material, it can contribute to pneumonia, so its elimination into a mug or otherwise is a strong suggestion from someone who's there.
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