Mom 57 Diagnosed with Stage 3 Adenocarcinoma - Looking for experiences

Posted by ur91 @ur91, 20 hours ago

Hi, Mom, 57 was diagnosed with Stage 3(T3 N0 M0, HER2+) in GE junction, back in April.

Treatment completed 7/10:
- FLOT (Oxaliplatin and 5FU) 3 Treatment sessions
- Radiation: Mon-Friday - about 28 sessions

Current:
Waiting for about 4 weeks before a PET scan to determine whether she will be a candidate for surgery.

We're about a week post final radiation and her symptoms seems to be getting worse.
- Vomiting more frequently, at least once a day sometime more.
- Feeling like foods/liquids are going down harder. Feeling its getting stuck. (She never really had any blockages and has been able to eat and drink mostly normally before and during treatment.)

Future:
- She is nervous about the surgery but we were told the statistics and it seems like the team would recommend surgery.
- They might consider immunotherapy post surgery

I suppose I'm sharing this because I would like to hear if what she is experiencing in line with what others have during their journey. Do symptoms get worst post treatment, and for how long?

If you have been through this or were in a similar situation, what was your experience? Did you get surgery? Did you get "cured"?
Given her diagnosis, are the chances good to get to a cure post surgery? Do they go down she decides against it?
How risky is the surgery?

She's getting treatment at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and they seem to be one of the best for esophageal cancers as we understand it.
They dont offer robotic surgery but their overall surgical success numbers seem to be quiet high.

Thanks for any suggestions or stories that you share.

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

Ur91
Hi I had chemo and radiation for esophageal cancer tumor in lower esophagus. I did not have surgery. After several radiation and chemo treatments, the tumor had shrunk 30%. I ended up with feeding tube for a while since I could not swallow. I also had several side affects including coughing, tired, and diarea. But after treatment, the tumor was gone and I got better. I'd be happy to answer any questions.
Don

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Yes. My dad has the worse symptoms about a week afyer last radiation. We thought something was wrong his swallowing was so bad but it went away about 2 weeks after maybe 3. They said it was from all the inflammation. His nausea stuck around for awhile but got better after about a month. Just had pet scan and showed clear but still needs scope to know if they are doing surgrey.

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