It seems you have a great out look on this and that's a great starting point keep that positive attitude and stay strong . My mother has esophagus care and she still have a good out look the Dr. are surprised at how well she is doing considering the degree she has this cancer . I think trying to stay strong and having faith is the best thing you can do for your self .

Hi Jon - and WELCOME to this incredibly supportive and informative EC group! When I saw your age, my first thought (believe or not) was, "How fortunate he is to be 65" because finally we get Medicare at this age. I then saw "Toronto" and realized that your population is covered for medical care from cradle to grave? My Stage 3 EC was diagnosed at age 66, so I've been blessed with no medical bills for the last 3 years. Stay with us and ask any questions you have - somebody or many somebodies will have experienced what you are.

I believe that it is fairly common to need to be streched for the reasons your surgeon mentioned.

For this diagnosis, protocol on the central coast of California is to have a number of weeks of radiation concurrently with chemotherapy, then a six to eight week rest before the operation. I am thinking that you should still have the radiation and chemotherapy. Press your medical providers on this issue.

Thanks for the replies. I will add that my cancer was found at a very early stage (stage 1) by accident I might add too. Out of 22 lymph nodes tested only one had cancer and it was the nearest to the tumor. It was also removed.

Welcome to our group! So glad to hear that you are Stage 1, with a very small tumor, and that you have great family support. For my sister, this was a very aggressive cancer. I agree with Bone Canyon, chemo and radiation seem the standard care here in the states. Good luck to you, and know that we are all pulling for you!

So far, so good! It is great to have good family support, and someone to talk to.

I don't think it is that unusual that you would need the esophagus stretched. After my surgery, I had to have mine stretched twice. After that, it stayed open with no trouble swallowing.

My neighbor has EC (inoperable due to its location), had chemo and radiation last fall, and has had to have dilation every two weeks since then (at this point over 30 times). I really don't understand why anyone's esophagus would close up bimonthly.

Welcome! I am glad that you had the option of your old stomach to fall back on. I pray all goes well with you. The stoma will probably need some stretching, but I'll bet that with your eating and their procedure you will be fine.

I've seen my surgeon and had my throat joint stretched and yessssI am able to eat solids now....this is great...had roast beef, fresh carrots and potatoes last night. Going for chemo on Oct. 7th and still discussing radiation with a second Dr.

Jon2, that's great that the stretching has you able to eat solid foods again. I remember those scary days when food would get stuck before my surgery and how wonderful it was to be able to swallow solid foods after in time after surgery.

I always wondered what would happen if someone had previous gastric by-pass surgery, if they got EC, so it's nice to know there's still stomach that can be used for this procedure as well. I have about 5 cousins over the years that have had that procedure, but none have EC. Probably won't ever be faced with it, since I think about 15,000 people in the US get EC a year. That's 15,000 too many, but when you think of how many people are in the US, I think that's why we don't hear as much about EC as some of the other cancers, but word is getting out!

DancingGrandma. I had about 5 laser procedures before they started my chemo. It's done as a scope procedure and I had mine pretty close together - maybe it was every couple weeks or maybe weekly - I'd have to check back to my records, but maybe your neighbor is having something like that done each time?

Hi Brenda - no, my neighbor's being dilated every 2 weeks for many months at this point. I've never heard of this before, but she continues to abuse alcohol from morning to midnight, so maybe this keeps the radiated areas inflamed ?