Esophageal Exhaustion

There seems to be a condition that is prevalent if not universal among esophageal cancer patients. All seem to suffer from weakness, loss of stamina and reduced energy. Personally, I can’t do more than about 15 minutes of anything physical without needing a ten or fifteen minute break. I can’t even stand for too long without having to sit down. In my case, and with all the patients who are on chemo, I think it’s the effect of the chemo. It’s not only an immediate side effect, but a cumulative one. It seems to get worse the longer one is on chemo. If a patient is not a surgical candidate chemo is usually never ending other than periodic breaks. But there are patients who have had an esophagectomy and are no longer on chemo. Many have been off it for a long time and still do not have the energy they once did. Recently I discussed this with Paul Hamell, a patient I met who has had the surgery and has been cancer free for more than two years. He experiences shortness of breath and lack of energy when he does certain things. He pointed out that when part of the esophagus is removed, the stomach is pulled up to be reattached to the remaining part of the esophagus. This puts the stomach in the chest, occupying space that is normally exclusive to the heart and lungs. This has a crowding effect that makes it more difficult for the heart and lungs to expand thereby causing the symptoms described. So when it comes to energy and stamina it seems you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t have the surgery. I’ve learned to live with it. In fact it does have it’s benefits. Did you ever engage in a physical workout and reach a point of exhaustion but felt really good afterwards? I can do that in ten minutes! I have another round of chemo next week and then two weeks off from it. During the first off week I’ll be walking my daughter Heather down the aisle. I’m really looking forward to it but I think I’ll end up crying. During the second week I’m scheduled for a PET scan. Not only will it provide the normal information about how effective the treatments are but it will be the first measure of how successful the SIR Sphere treatment was. Speaking of PET scans, I recently started following the blog of Becky LaSalle. Her husband Rob was diagnosed last December with stage 4 small cell cancer at the GE (gastroesophageal) junction. The junction is where my cancer originated but small cell is a very unusual type for that location. In April it was discovered that he also has adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. Adenocarcinoma is the type that I have. It’s highly unusual to have two primary types of cancer in the esophagus. Rob is scheduled for a PET scan next week to see how effective his treatments have been. Please pray for him. He’s fighting a double battle. Carry on. ------------------------------