Esophageal Cancer: Surgery Or Not?

Can you explain further on the positioning? Mine was one third of the way down, stage III, confined to the esophagus. I underwent chemoradiation and I'm only two months out, but I show dramatic shrinkage and a drop in SUV score from 14.7 to 7. They feel most of the return is from late-onset esophagitis and my score will drop to normal. I'll be 86 in a few months and decided against surgery. My ex-wife died from EC, although hers was adeno and mine is squamous, about a third of the way down. After seeing her misery with the surgery and the long rehab, and how little time I have left in any case, I made my decision. Hence, my question about your positioning...

Even though my post-chemo/radiation sessions showed no detectable cancer cells, I still had the esophagectomy necessary to allow oral nutrition due to positioning of the original tumor.

Yes. He has the cross protocol. They never gave staging. Said that would come later after surgrey. Initial scan didn't show anywhere else but esophagus was so full that they could barley get a pediatric scope down him. Oncologist said he responded to treatment very well. He should be getting scope in the next week to give more update.

What was his initial staging? What depth of solid esophageal tumor penetration did he have... T3?

Assume he did the CROSS protocol... Carboplatin and Taxol... along with his radiation treatments?

Today... if a near complete pathological response is seen, there is a school of thought to skip esophagectomy (for now) and simply remain closely monitored (scans every 3 months?... and blood monitoring). We have some on our twice-weekly Zoom calls doing this. But... if you really want to have a chance to be done with EC... you have the esophagectomy. It's what most of us do. I'm in Irvine, and was stage 3 over 5 years ago. I did the CROSS protocol, esophagectomy, and then a year of immunotherapy... all at age 61. I'm 66 now... pretty much back to normal.

My dad has completed chemo and radiation and this is what the last pet scan he had said. Can someone help decipher. Should he still continue with surgrey?

Please read my post from just a little while ago. Best of luck with whatever you decide.
Robert "Chip" Driggs

i FOUND ISSUES WITH A FEEDING TUBE WERE MY BIGGEST ISSUES FOR 6 MONTHS AFTER THE SURGERY.

As long as there is a good service to assist you with this and the 1st couple weeks after the surgery, all should be well.

I often wonder about the life expediency after cancer, is that if is not treated?

I had my esophageal cancer in 22. All seems well with surviving that. I was found to have pancreatic cancer and completed my 1st of 15 scheduled treatments before surgery.
A positive attitude will make all the difference in this.
I wish you well, it took me 11 months to overcome the cancer.

Hi. I hope I can help you. First thing I must tell you is be positive and try to be strong. I have a great surgeon, 2 Oncologists and my GP. They along with the great nurses helped me along. It is a long road but if I can survive, you can too. There will be a lot of tests, checkups, specialists, to help you but time goes by quickly. Relaxation is a must. I had a problem with swallowing at first but with help it's better. A very important thing you MUST do is buy a WEDGE pillow. I got a good one from Amazon. If you don't have one you will aspirate while sleeping and it is not pleasant. You will be tired. I have learned to go at a slow place when working around the house then quit when I have had enough. I lost a lot of weight and it took me 2 years to gain 20 lbs. People kept telling me to eat but I ignored them. Try to eat fattening food like ice cream, fries, etc. I don't eat spices, citrus, meat (could get stuck in throat) chocolate (I eat it but I'm addicted) and so on. You'll find out eventually. I don't smoke or drink so that has helped. Here in Canada we have volunteers that drive patients to their doctors/hospitals. Try to find an organization that can help. That's all I can think of now. I had surgery in Feb. 2020 and my surgeon just told me last week that IF the cancer hasn't returned by Feb. 2026, I will be CURED! If I can do it you can too and I'll be 70 soon. Trust me. It all sounds daunting now but time does go by quickly and before you know it, you'll be doing push-ups.
If you have any questions just ask. Bye.

I would like your input on my situation. I am a 64 year old male, 2b adenocarcinoma. I have just completed my chemo and radiation, my surgery is scheduled for July 30. I question moving fwd. with the esophagectomy. I literally have zero support or care giver. My few friends are a few phone conversations and no face to face. For unknown reasons my adult children had ghosted me some time back, they know of my situation but have not acknowledged it or me in any way. I understand they have their own lives too but I have made every attempt to communicate with them to no avail. I also have 7 grand children I haven't seen in 3 years.
Honestly I feel as though I don't have much to live for due to my isolation, the surgery invasiveness, recovery, poor quality of life and a 30% chance of making it 3-5 years makes me question if its worth it. What are your thoughts?

Edit: It was 5.5 weeks of weekday sessions. 4-5 chemo sessions were planned, but I only made three before I had a bad allergic reaction and had to discontinue...