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.
Hi all, Just an update, my sister's cancer was diagnosed July 2012. After treatment, a recurrence occurred in June 2013. At that time, she was given 6 months to 1 year. Here's my question. She is becoming more irritable and taking most of it out on her husband. She has blamed it on the steriods that she is given with her chemo treatments in order to combat the nausea. At a recent visit to her house, she insisted that we make 2 pots of coffee even though no one wanted coffee, scolded her husband for being too slow in washing dishes (and other things), and was visibly restless and irritable. Her husband takes the brunt of all of this without complaining. I know part of this is because of pain and anxiety, and part of it is because she is such a fighter with this disease-it's hard for her to turn the aggression off. She is currently taking 3 pain meds per day- I think hydrocodone. She also takes marinol to help her relax and fight the nausea. Has anyone gone through this with a loved one? If so, what meds helped with relaxation? Thank you for any help you can give. -Linda from Missouri
dhenth
My brother has a "prescription" (or however it's phrased) for medicinal marijuana. I'm not sure that's available in your state of Missouri, but it's definitely worth looking in to--helps with the nausea too.
Linda65401
Thanks dhenth. My sister has said that she would like to try that if it were available. The best she can do is marinol, a pill derivative. She is on the maximum dose of that now. She constantly thanks the group here for that advice. It has helped greatly with her nausea. Thanks again.
prayinglots
It sounds like she is definitely dealing with side effects. Hopefully the doctors have some ideas. Does she feel good enough to find an outlet, via a movie, a walk, something? I hope she feels better soon.
deleted_user
This may sound odd, but when I thought that chemo might nauseate me, several of my older teenaged grandkids told me that they could easily "score" marijuana - even show me how to make it into something other than joints! It's the most common drug out there if you know people who use it. Marinol didn't do a thing for me, BTW. Fortunately, the chemo didn't bother me at all, so I didn't need the "real thing". It's only a matter of time before it's legalized, usually starting with medical uses. Believe me, I've even thought of trying it to increase my non-existent appetite since my surgery four years ago. Beats a feeding tube!
Linda65401
Thanks Prayinglots and DancingGrandma. She sees the oncologist again tomorrow, so I will know more then. I hope to bring the topic up for discussion.
Linda65401
Here's an update that may be helpful for others: my sister's anti-depression meds were increased, and she was encouraged to take more of her anti-anxiety medicine.
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