Esophageal Cancer Support Group
Esophageal cancer is malignancy of the esophagus. There are various subtypes. Esophageal tumors usually lead to dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), pain and other symptoms, and is diagnosed with biopsy. Small and localized tumors are treated with surgery, and advanced tumors are treated with chemotherapy, radiotherapy or combinations.
Just a question for all of you that have gone through chemo already, my husband is finally starting his chemo this Tues, he will be hospitalized for 4 days at time every 28 days, but the question I have is how many rounds of chemo is typical for this kind of cancer? the reason I'm asking is because the surgeon & the oncologist doing the chemo are kind of having a disagreement about this, the surgeon wants 5 or 6 rounds before surgery & the Dr doing the chemo only suggests 3 to 4 because she doesn't think my husband can handle more than that. I guess they've agreed to do 3 & than a PET scan to see how the tumor looks but I was just wondering how many chemo rounds everyone else went through. Thanks & I hope all of you are doing well.
It seemed to me that my oncologist was the specialist with cancer and treating it and the surgeons were the experts at removing what they needed to.
I know in my case my Gastro Dr. was questioning the type surgery my surgeons were doing on me - he thought instead of removing most of the esophagus and a little bit of my stomach and bringing it up to the throat area that they should use a part of my intestines to replace the esophagus. After letting the two know their differences and hearing the reasons for both, my gastro Dr. realized the surgeons were more up-to-date with the procedure and called and apologized to them for questioning them. I had more respect for him for doing that and letting me know as well. My gastro Dr. is very preventative and overly protective, but EC just isn't (wasn't) as prevalent around here as it seems like it is becoming more and more :-( But he is excellent at finding anything that needs to be found!
So, I'd let them know their differences - hear the reasons - see if they can come to an agreement of what should be. If there's any doubt of trust on either Dr. you might check for another opinion as well?
For me my outcome has been very satisfying and I'm glad what was done - was done - the way it was :-) But, again, everyone is different and we oft times require different type and lengths of treatment. In the end they are trying to get the best results possible for us all. I was in a study that was going on at the time. I think they've stopped it now though. But, I'm sure they have others too.
I wish you and your husband the best!
I agree with Brenda. Everyone is different. My Oncologist and my Surgeon were in total agreement about my treatment. I had 28 days of radiation and chemo, then they waited 3 more weeks for the radiation to peak. At that point, they did the surgery.
I also agree that your Oncologist should be the lead doctor in this situation. If I had needed to pick sides, I absolutely would have picked my Oncologist ! (And I REALLY liked my surgeon!!!!!!!!!!)
I would suggest you take a copy of your post to your Oncologist, and ask him/her to explain the treatment more thoroughly, including doses, side effects, likely outcome, and what comes after surgery. Plus anything else that comes to mind.
Then do the same thing with the surgeon, but focus on these questions as they apply to the surgery. I would avoid the chemo argument, if possible.
Best of luck to you both. Let us know how it goes, if you get a moment :-)
All the best,
Fred