renodude

Hi

When I was diagnosed with stage III esophageal cancer they told me they had good news and bad news. I said let me hear the good news first. They said we are going to give you chemo 24 hours a day 5 days a week for 6 weeks and during that same period we will give you 28 continuous radiation treatments. We will let you rest for 2 months and then due surgery that will remove 2/3rd of your esophagus and 1/3rd of your stomach and pull up the remaining part of your stomach to attach to the remaining part of your esophagus.

I said I thought I said I wanted to hear the good news first and they said that is the good news. The bad news is after we do all of that you have a 5-10% chance of living 5 years.

Well that was 15 years ago and with the grace of God I am still here and doing well.

My wife, who has been a pillar of strength through it all, and I have created the Esophageal Cancer Education Foundation www.fightec.org. A part of our Mission Statement is "to walk the journey with patients who have this disease"

When I was going through chemo I came up with a saying that has been with me all this time and that is "God sits on my right shoulder and there is nothing that He and I together can't handle."

Good luck and take care

Bart

Hi Dude. Welcome to What Next. There are some great people here. If you have any questions, please use the question tab above -- that way everyone will have easy access & you'll get a quicker response. I am so sorry you have found yourself in this situation. Please keep in mind, regardless of what the doctor says, we don't have a specific expiration date. There are many people here who have lived past what their oncologists predicted. Or I could get hit by a bus tomorrow. We just don't know. I'm glad you found and hope you find the strength and support you're seeking. Wishing you the best.

Hello and welcome, we are sorry for your diagnosis, but we are happy to have you with us. Please feel free to join in the conversations. Here is a link to our cancer dx page for your type of cancer. Take a look at it to get you started on some information. You will notice at the bottom of that page 4 of our active users who have had that journey already, you may wish to contact them for their experience and wisdom. Also, I encourage you to go to the questions page now by clicking on the questions tab at the top of the page and post what is the most pressing issue you have right now. This will introduce you to the community and get you started on the help you need right now.

https://www.whatnext.com/conditions/cancer/esophagus-esophageal-cancer

There are also subtypes listed on this page to narrow down the type of cancer to match your dx. Also, if you can take a few minutes and fill in some details of your journey so far, it will help others as they try to answer questions for you, it also helps others as they search through the database to find someone like themselves. Confirming your email will allow you to receive updates and notices from the site when someone answers your questions or writes on your wall. Thanks for being with us and let me know if I can help you find any information on the site. After you have an opportunity to look the site over and see what great things there are here, we encourage you to invite your friends, family or anyone you know that may be helped by the connections on WhatNext to join the site also.

Just click this link to invite them to join. http://www.whatnext.com/recruit-a-friend

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GregP 3X Survivor
WhatNext Community Mgr

Welcome to the WhatNext family! The WhatNext family is made up of people like you who are looking for help or looking to help others. To help you along your journey the WhatNext family has put together a Beginner's Guide to Cancer that I highly recommend you check-out here: http://bit.ly/10BQKCi. Also, please do not hesitate to reach out to others or ask for help.

Wishing you the best.

David
Founder, WhatNexter