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Symptoms after chemo and radiation: Worried cancer is back?
My 75-year-old mother was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma (10 cm mass with distal thickening in the lower esophagus) back in June. She completed 6 weeks of chemo and 25 rounds of radiation (carboplatin and taxol) at the end of August. She is not a candidate for surgery. Her post-treatment PET scan showed significant tumor shrinkage and no metastases. The oncologist recommended a repeat scan in February to allow scarring tissue to heal fully
She was managing to eat small portions but has struggled to gain weight. However, over the past week, she's started experiencing worsening reflux-like symptoms. She describes a feeling of something stuck in her throat and is finding it hard to push food down. She has also been producing excess saliva or mucus, which she keeps spitting out.
She is on protonix and carafate
I’m worried about whether this could be a sign of the cancer coming back, even though her PET scan showed such promising results. Is this possible?
Her labs looked good and no other issues
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@v2j60a
I'm 79 and have had similar experience to your mom. I was diagnosed with cancerous tumor in my lower esophagus, and was treated with radiation and chemo. I was not a candidate for surgery either. After three rounds, the tumor had shrunk 30%. After 28 rounds the scans showed the tumor was gond and the lymph nodes had returned to normal. However, I have since had several endoscopies where they have found pre-cancerous cells in my lower esophagus which is called Barretts. I am now on omeprazole to prevent acid reflux. Has your mom had an endoscopy after the radiation and chemo treatment?
Don
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1 ReactionThank you Don for your detailed response
She had an endoscopy procedure before her PET scan
She had a feeding tube that was giving her a lot of issues and they decided to close it through endoscopy
The GI doc mentioned he noticed tumor but it could also be radiation scar and it was hard to say and recommended a repeat EGD after PET scan
My husband experienced very thick mucus and we tried Guaifensin, an ingredient in Mucinex. We did not use Mucinex which has other ingredients. This was just the Guaifensin. It did help some to thin out the mucus. It did lessen some after his surgery, but did come back . It was very annoying, hope you can find something that helps
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1 Reaction@v2j60a, how is your mom doing? Did you report her symptoms to her team and were they able to help with the reflux?