3 months between cancer diagnosis and treatment/surgery?

[7costanza]

My dad was diagnosed with early stage esophageal cancer in early July, and just had surgery to remove part of his esophagus today. He hasn't had any other treatments (chemo/radiation), and likely won't. His last MRI was in August. Is this normal? My googling showed that this type of cancer is fairly aggressive so I'm worried he isn't getting great care, plus he has an HMO that has messed up stuff for me and several other family members in the past. We aren't close and he doesn't tell me much but I'm going to visit him this weekend and hopefully talk to his girlfriend and doctor about my concerns and get more info on his current condition. Just wondering what the norm is...

[cst2cst]

It completely depends on the type and stage of cancer. If you are concerned, and your dad is agreeable, he can request a second opinion through his HMO. I used to work for a major University Cancer Center and we would often get HMO patients who were seeking second opinions. Generally it requires a referral, but is approved. I think it is really important for anyone with a major diagnosis to feel really confident in their treatment.

[Norticprincess]

Depends on the cancer staging and a bunch of other things. If he just had the surgery today, they need to wait for the path report and see if the margins are clear. Follow up scans would be after he heals a bit. His doctor should have more of an idea about treatment after he recovers from surgery. Doc may very well have already discussed this with your father, and he just hasn't shared the info. If things are clear a scan every few months with them being spaced out more as things stay clear is normal.

I can't recall if anyone on the cancer board is dealing with this type at the moment.

YPersonal history time frames

Me - within a day of bloodwork
DH's HL was about 5 weeks from CT to tx started
FIL - stuff through the VA it was within a month after dx NHL

The ever popular I don't obey timelines GFIL has late stage esophageal cancer. He was given 6-10 weeks, in August, of last year.


Hope you get more info when you see him.

[shanbrite2]

Ditto to everyone else. It could be that since he was still early stage, the risks of chemo/radiation outweigh the benefits, since both of those treatments can also cause secondary cancers. Not all cancers respond or respond well to those chemo/radiation either. Melanoma (the cancer I had) does best with surgery, and chemo/radiation do almost nothing for it. I only get yearly CT scans, even with Stage 3, because the oncologist said the extra exposure to radiation from more frequent CT scans could cause more cancer, potentially. You should follow up with him about what exactly the oncologist recommended and what the plan for follow up is (how often he sees his onc, etc.)

[7costanza]

Thank you all for the information! This is my first time dealing with cancer in the family (besides my grandparents when I was younger) so your posts were really helpful and have given me an idea of what to talk about with my dad and the doctor.

[drloretta]

Agree with everyone else. My dad was diagnosed with early stage prostate cancer. He was told to take 6 weeks to get a second opinion and decide on course of treatment. He ended up having surgery, with no other follow-up treatment. That was 15 years ago.

[cajunmom]

I agree with all of the pp's that it's dependent on so many factors. I know with my dad, he was in for surgery within a week of diagnosis (pancreatic cancer).

[SusanBAnthony]

I think your concerns are valid, as I have seen cancer treatment bungled both for my mom and a friend of a friend. For the friend, she was just at a crappy hospital that was not being particularly aggressive given her age. I don't know why she didn't ever seek a second opinion, but she was not receptive to that, so her choice.

For my mom, she was diagnosed at the local medium town hospital, and given a course of treatment. She was freaked out and decided to get a second opinion at the Mayo Clinic, where she was diagnosed with a genetic form of her cancer, and thus needed completely different (more aggressive) treatment. There is no doubt in my mind at if she had done the procedure recommended by the local hospital she would be dead today.

[Susie]

I want to say it was about a month from dx to surgery for my mom, with her ovarian cancer. Chemo came after surgery recovery.

My dad took much longer. I want to say 2 months from dx to starting radiation? It depends on so many factors.

[dirtyred]

Ditto all the others, but let me add that radiation is really hard on tissues, and he needs to heal up before they would consider blasting the incisions/sutures.  I started radiation about a 6 weeks after my surgery.