Medically reviewed by Alex Little, MD. How long does it take for esophageal cancer symptoms to get severe after the onset of the first symptom? The earliest symptom can be so mild that it can be mistaken for acid reflux.
Little trained in general and thoracic surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; has been active in national thoracic surgical societies as a speaker and participant, and served as president of the American College of Chest Physicians. Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. BMI Calculator. Imperial Metric.
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Connect with a doctor now. Get help now: Ask doctors free Educational text. Similar questions A year-old member asked:. Nasfat Shehadeh answered. Hematology and Oncology 29 years experience. Probably: Depending on what you consider fast..
Needs to be treated within very few weeks of diagnosis. Jon Spiers answered. Thoracic Surgery 31 years experience. It can be: This is a serious malady that needs to be addressed by a thoracic surgeon in your area. Please see your doctor asap. Hope this helps! A year-old member asked:. Creighton Wright answered. General Surgery 56 years experience. Fast: From unseen to obstructing in a year is possible.
I just have a feeling that this might have been noticed if the CT had been looked at carefully. If the reading radiologist screwed up then he needs to be made aware of it. As far as treatment, I am basically screwed. Two surgeons looked at the scan and said it can't be operated on unless it can be shrunk.
I had radiation to esophagus in for the lung cancer and can't get more. No discussion on the lung yet, guess we are waiting on the biopsy. I was referred to a gastroenterologist by my PCP because I was complaining or recurrent acid reflux. I did not have problems swallowing, and had none of the normal symptoms of esophageal cancer. They then did a follow up CT scan and an endoscopic ultrasound and told me if they did not have the biopsies from the EGD they would not have known I had cancer.
So three weeks later I was in surgery. When they did the pathology they found cancer cells in one of the lymph nodes that were removed in surgery. While I was in the hospital I got a massive infection in my surgical wounds and had to have my incisions re-opened and be put on IV antibiotics for three days in order to bring things under control. I guess what I am trying to say in my long winded fashion is that you will probably never know if, or how, the esophageal cancer was missed in your scans a few months ago.
The important thing is that esophageal cancer can be very aggressive and treatment in a medical facility that specializes in esophageal cancer is the priority at this point. Surgery could be more difficult for your particular form of esophageal cancer because squamous cell EC normally occurs higher in the throat than adenocarcinoma EC. You will find a number of people on this forum who are not candidates for surgery and are dealing with EC through chemotherapy alone.
Many of them report shrinkage of the tumor during chemotherapy. Of course there are various levels of success. Since you have beaten cancer before you know that a positive attitude is key and that ignoring the statistics is a requirement.
My dad had Hodgkins lymphoma 5 years ago and returns to MD Anderson for his scans and bloodwork to make sure it hasn't returned. In mid October he was at MD Anderson again for bloodwork no scan. Everything was fine. But, he was staying at my home while in town for this and was very fatigued.
My husband and I saw him again in late October and he was having difficulty swallowing and again was very fatigued. He went in and had the procedures you mentioned.
He is stage IV with lymph node involvement. They did a biopsy Friday to rule out lymphoma again, but the doctor feels it is the EC, not the lymphoma since all his past tests were clear.
We will know those results this week. I also wondered why the EC wouldn't show up in a CT scan. My husband, who is an acute care nurse practitioner said the same thing to me what your doctor told you about how the esophagus is hard to image in a CT.
I don't know if my dad asked his doctor the same thing, but if he did, I now want to know what his doctor said. We had a similar experience.
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