Essence of Esophagus

I've decided to bring back Essence of Essie to keep people up to date on how Dad is doing, since posting some of this stuff on facebook just doesn't seem right.  I hope that this will be a place to answer some of your questions, and most importantly let you know how you can be praying for Dad and Mom right now.  I know that they wish they could talk to each one of you and keep you up to date, but it has been a whirlwind of activity the last week and are only just beginning to have a sense of what is going on.

Last Tuesday Dad had an Endoscopy at Everett Clinic (in Washington) and tissue biopsy of his esophagus because of some issues he's had with swallowing and weight loss.  The result of that biopsy showed  esophageal adenocarcinoma and evidence of Barrett's esophagus (a disease associated with acid reflux and irregular cells in the lower third lining of the esophagus.)  The recommendation for next steps was to have a PET scan to determine how far the cancer had spread.  Because the PET scanner in Everett was down and Dad would not be able to get into the hospital in Seattle for a couple of weeks, I made some calls and was able to get Dad an appointment at Mayo this week.  I flew out to Washington Saturday morning, and Mom, Dad, and I took off after church on Sunday to drive to Rochester. (A long fast trip with great weather and roads).

Dad (and Mom) met with Dr. Ravi, a GI Consultant, Wednesday morning, and he got Dad in for a PET scan that morning.  Yesterday afternoon they met with Dr. Ravi again to go over the results of that PET scan and received the very good news that the cancer has not spread outside of the esophagus.  Today (Thursday) Dad had an endoscopy and ultrasound of the esophagus to determine how deep the cancer goes.  This is a small camera (scope) with the ultrasound "machine" wrapped around it that is sent down the throat to allow the radiologists to view the inside of the esophagus.  Once the doctor and surgeon have had a chance to review these pictures, they will be able to advise on next steps for Dad. 

Next steps almost certainly involve surgery to remove the portion of the esophagus that is cancerous and then pull the stomach up to attach to the remaining portion of the esophagus.  Most likely there will be 6 weeks of chemotherapy and radiation before hand to prepare for surgery, although there is a slim chance that Dad could go right to surgery without the chemo if the cancer has not spread too deep or too high into the esopohagus.   Dad and Mom meet with the surgeon tomorrow afternoon to review the results of the ultrasound and discuss next steps.

Dad has been feeling pretty good, but has had to be careful what he eats - soft foods and soups, and take his time when eating.  However, after a long day of tests and discussions yesterday, he still spent an hour and a half doing yard work when he got back to my house, and who am I to stop him from doing what he wants :-)  There are a lot more questions than answers right now, but Dad knows who holds the future, and is trusting that God will continue to exhibit His glory through all the moments.  Your prayers for peace, trust, and wisdom are coveted.

Just checked with Mom to make sure there were OK with my posting this, and got this message back from her  
I just walked into the "computer" room to open this up, and what did I see but your father's face looking through the window.  When I asked him what he was doing, he told me that he was removing a wasp's nest. They told him he couldn't drive or operate heavy machinery today, nothing about climbing ladders to the second story to deal with wasps, though.

I'll post more as we know it.

For those of you who are interested, Mayo has some decent information about esophageal cancer, Barrett's esophagus, and some of the tests here
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/esophageal-cancer/DS00500