Proton therapy for esophageal cancer: What are the side effects like?

We did see the helpful replies. Thank you to all. John had treatment number 7 on Friday. He is doing pretty well so far. The main thing he notices is fatigue.(No nausea, no trouble eating, a good bit of constipation, though.) His last treatment will be February 1. His chemo doctor said that if he's like most people, the week after treatment ends will be his worst. Oh boy!!

I had treatment for esophageal cancer in 2019-proton radiation, chemo and surgery all at Mayo Clinic, Rochester. I had no pain, nausea, or any problems with eating or drinking. The fatigue came on slowly and only noticeable as I neared the end of treatment as I walked often at a local gym or the treadmill at Hope Lodge. I'll be a 5 year cancer survivor from the date of my surgery the end of this April.

Hi @donnawmsbrady, I hope you saw the helpful replies from @gdj and @jlmcclure. How is your husband doing with proton beam therapy? How many sessions has he had and how many more to go?

My experience was the same. Proton therapy wasn’t awful; was the easiest part of chemo, radiation and then surgery.

Good luck!

I had proton radiation treatments (25) at Mayo two years ago. About a week or two into the treatments I began having symptoms -- fatigue, nausea mostly and difficulty eating anything other than soft foods. It wasn't pleasant but it wasn't horrific either.