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Hoping for thoughts on my decision to forego the surgery for cancer

Posted by shboston @shboston, Jul 31 1:43pm

Gastro biopsy shows 3 cm squamous tumor mid chest. Surgeon says CT shows nothing to suggest surgery is not an option, but we need PET still.

However I am seventy-five years old. The surgery is hard on a body and from this forum I understand that life after surgery can be difficult to say the least.

Here is the mail I sent to my surgeon. Please add your opinions

I'm deciding against surgery. Working through the stats it doesn't make sense for someone my age. Recovery from the surgery can take years and that recovery is severely compromised by the treatment.

I'm seventy-five; I don't want my remaining years to be a misery. We're looking at a year or so of pain and disgusting discomfort with an uncertain outcome. That doesn't make sense. I understand that chemo/radiation in some cases eradicates the cancer and in others reduces it. Given that Dr < > tells me that only half the patients with esophagectomy survive -- and I know that of that half many are miserable -- I don't see surgery making a good break for me. The odds with chemo/radiation may not be much better but the consequences of failure are less devastating.

We don't heal quickly and well at my age, and quality of life is my primary concern. With the surgery, it's likely I'll be nearly eighty before I 'recover' and that recovery does not look like an easy life for an eighty-year old man.

So how do we proceed? Please advise.

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

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emersonmoon | @emersonmoon | Aug 16 5:58pm
In reply to @pennyr1965 "Hopefully your hubby's surgery has a good outcome. I understand that if they start treatment that..." + (show)
Profile picture for pennyr1965 @pennyr1965

Hopefully your hubby's surgery has a good outcome. I understand that if they start treatment that they would want me to stop herbs as don't know the effect the herbs would have on treatment. But considering they want me to gain 30 to 40 lbs before they could do any treatment baffles me that he wants me to stop using them immediately. After the scope my throat was Raw for a few weeks some of my herbal teas soothed it. And my aloe gel was a great relief.

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I don’t understand that either. I feel like they should be able to do something for you though, even as you try to gain weight-maybe get a second opinion? My hubby never had excessive trouble eating, just some swallowing issues when it came to things like bread and steak. They have encouraged him throughout treatment to drink high protein drinks like Boost and I think that helped. He lost and gained back about 12 pounds. I’m very nervous about the aftermath of surgery, however.

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goldenshadow | @goldenshadow | Aug 16 6:33pm

Hello So I’m 62 my journey began August of 2024 stage 3 esophagus cancer. So I went into this with an attitude of I’m going to beat this because I want to live. Positive all the way and that helped my wife and sons knowing I was in the right mindset. Now having the right medical team is everything I trusted my oncologist and my two surgeons because they worked together great. They explained every aspect of my treatment and surgery I would have. Nurses were also amazing. I had a j tube put in because I couldn’t swallow my food or drink liquids very well and I had lost45 lbs. Needed to gain weight for surgery and I gained 20lbs back before surgery So my treatment was called flot treatments that started with 4 chemo treatments one every other week for 2 months. Then waited 5 weeks before surgery had surgery January 3rd. So 9 hr surgery with 2 surgical teams. For me first couple days were rough then got much better because I put the work in. By that I mean breathing exercises and walking helped tremendously. 8 day stay in the hospital then waited 4 weeks then had 4 more treatments of chemo. That ended April 5th 2025. Had my pet scan done in July came back clear. So like I said earlier I was positive through out this whole process there is more so I’m eating smaller meals for sure they had removed 20 cm of my esophagus and used my stomach for my new esophagus. For me the treatments and surgery was the right decision. I hope this helps and what ever you decide to do I wish you and your family well. Keep up the good fight! Scott

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kopper | @kopper | Aug 17 6:35pm
In reply to @pennyr1965 "Once pet scan is done Monday and get results Friday I will at least know what..." + (show)
Profile picture for pennyr1965 @pennyr1965

Once pet scan is done Monday and get results Friday I will at least know what stage and what there actual plan is not hypothetically depending on finding. I'm fi ding that the waiting if I think too much about it sends me in a head spin as don't have the necessary knowledge to even except let alone deal with the psychological aspects of it. Once I know the extent of it be it bad or better then thought and the acceptance of the reality of my situation sets in I think I can get a better equalization of my feelings. But oncologist made it sound like because it's 10cm (4inches) that the scan will show late stages. I hope you are doing well with your situation

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@pennyr1965
My tumor grew vertically in my esophagus and was also 10 cm.
I was Stage 2 (T2N1M0).
Keep the faith.

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jmaaccg | @jmaaccg | Aug 17 11:44pm
In reply to @pennyr1965 "I'm knew here just found out squamous eosphogus tumor 6 weeks ago. Go for pet scan..." + (show)
Profile picture for pennyr1965 @pennyr1965

I'm knew here just found out squamous eosphogus tumor 6 weeks ago. Go for pet scan Monday booked for results a week tomorrow. No idea of stage or if any spread. I've been bombard with doctors. I found the oncologist overwhelming. For a year I've been told indigestion and side effects.of blood thinners until a doctor finally sent me for a.scope. The tumor is 4 inches long which everything I'm reading saying that a large tumor is 1.5 inches. Which doctor saying that probably higher stage of cancer and might not be anything they can do for me. I feel like they've jumped the gun with info when they have no idea.of a.plan as don't know full info themselves yet. It's nice to see this post as im not a pharmaceutical type of person. Tried having a discussion with oncologist and 3 different times felt he was going to throw me.out of his office as I questioned what he was telling me. It was like all he really wanted was me to accept his plan for me without questioning it. My mother and siblings think I should just jump on.board with treatment. My children were raised herbally and.say it's my decision. So I have support without pressure from them. I've been researching since I actually know what it is now and the results dontseem great especially if doctor saying with size probably stage 3 or 4. Very nice to see others questioning treatment and quality of life with treatment. After the scope I couldn't even eat chicken noodles soup for 3.weeks and took all day to get 2 ensure in me. I've lost 40 lbs in six month so even if they decide.they can do treatment they say they need to fatten me up 1st as only.105 lbs now. I made the mistake of telling him I started to do herbs that are.suppose to boost my.immune.system and reduce.inflamation. was told if I do herbs he would not be my doctor. He wants me to sit here for months doing.only pain killers and indigestion pills as the stomach acid is hurting the tumor. Also told me that I would need a.stint as tumor will keep getting bigger.and I won't be able to swallow liquids before the weight is on. After herbs or maybe the scope just inflamed eosphogus and is now for 2 weeks I can eat soup drink ensure and cheesies and small pieces of fish. So for some reason my eating getting better. I think I need all the info so I can decide myself risk/benefit. A longer life if poor quality of life is not necessarily a good thing. I need alot more info before I can make a decision like that and I don't think I'm going to get the info from the doctor I have. I'm in canada and really only have cancer society clinic as an option. No private clinics. So hoping to get info from reading people's actually experiences. I haven't figured out how to navigate this site yet. Can't figure out how to post a.question so just reading answers to others.questions atm. I don't feel like thos doctor is one to ask what if I chose part of treatment but not it all. Tried to get him to explain immunotherapy and he wouldn't have that discussion as not an option here until u do chemo/radiation and surgery if u want it 1st then it's 10 thousand dollars every 3 weeks of treatment. After all other options tried its free. So didn't get to find out how does it work after you tear down the immune system with treatment to try to then boost it. So hoping to find info about partial treatment instead of full and what best for my situation. Obviously I need pet scan and results before I can even start to think about what is best for me in my opinion. Sorry such a long post, but really no one to talk to about anything about this as kids are trying to stay without opinion and family trying to push me into just doing what doctors say. But would like to find out why people make the decision they do. Poor survival rates? Poor quality of life? Or something else

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Penny, my husband was diagnosed with stage 4 esophageal cancer May 30. After several weeks of test and a couple of meeting with oncologist, who did not give us much hope. We decided to switch oncologist. The best decision we could have made. His current oncologist and staff are amazing. They give us support and hope that this terrible disease can be defeated. Praying that you can the right doctors to provide you with the best treatment plan to. Conquer this illness.

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shaneeliz | @shaneeliz | Aug 18 10:07am
In reply to @goldenshadow "Hello So I’m 62 my journey began August of 2024 stage 3 esophagus cancer. So I..." + (show)
Profile picture for goldenshadow @goldenshadow

Hello So I’m 62 my journey began August of 2024 stage 3 esophagus cancer. So I went into this with an attitude of I’m going to beat this because I want to live. Positive all the way and that helped my wife and sons knowing I was in the right mindset. Now having the right medical team is everything I trusted my oncologist and my two surgeons because they worked together great. They explained every aspect of my treatment and surgery I would have. Nurses were also amazing. I had a j tube put in because I couldn’t swallow my food or drink liquids very well and I had lost45 lbs. Needed to gain weight for surgery and I gained 20lbs back before surgery So my treatment was called flot treatments that started with 4 chemo treatments one every other week for 2 months. Then waited 5 weeks before surgery had surgery January 3rd. So 9 hr surgery with 2 surgical teams. For me first couple days were rough then got much better because I put the work in. By that I mean breathing exercises and walking helped tremendously. 8 day stay in the hospital then waited 4 weeks then had 4 more treatments of chemo. That ended April 5th 2025. Had my pet scan done in July came back clear. So like I said earlier I was positive through out this whole process there is more so I’m eating smaller meals for sure they had removed 20 cm of my esophagus and used my stomach for my new esophagus. For me the treatments and surgery was the right decision. I hope this helps and what ever you decide to do I wish you and your family well. Keep up the good fight! Scott

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I 100% agree with "having the right medical team is everything." I had stage 3 (at age 50; I'm now just shy of 53) and my oncologist, radiologist, and surgeon worked together from day 1, communicating with each other and with me all the way. The amount that did for my peace of mind was incalculable. I was able to focus on staying healthy and living in the moment and appreciating what I had around me instead of fretting about things that others were better qualified to deal with. I'm so grateful for my medical team and my wish for everyone is that they have such solid medical support.

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shaneeliz | @shaneeliz | Aug 18 10:11am

I think a lot depends on how healthy and strong you are right now. Seventy five can be lots of different things-- my husband is 72 and still climbing mountains, backpacking, and SCUBA diving. If you have pretty decent physical strength, there's no reason you can't get through surgery. My surgery was challenging, but I was hiking again a few months afterwards, and almost 2 years out the only difference in my life from before surgery is that I have to eat smaller meals and sleep on a wedge pillow. My quality of life has actually improved b/c I have gained so much perspective. Again, depends on how healthy you are going into it, but don't write yourself off just get if you think you have the stamina to get through the surgery. But... most importantly, feel strongly about the decision you make, because it's YOUR decision and no one else's. Good luck with whichever decision you make!

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