From Diagnosis to Determination - Oesophageal Junction Cancer Diary

 Okay, so what's a PET scan? When it comes to diagnosing and monitoring cancer, doctors rely on advanced imaging techniques to gain a clearer picture of what’s happening inside the body. One such tool is the Positron Emission Tomography (PET) (Ooohh don't i sound clever!) scan , a powerful medical imaging test that helps detect cancer and evaluate its progression. What is a PET Scan? A PET scan is a type of nuclear medicine imaging that uses a small amount of radioactive material, known as a tracer , to highlight areas of high metabolic activity in the body. Since cancer cells tend to grow and divide more rapidly than normal cells, they absorb the tracer at a higher rate, making them stand out in the scan images. How Does a PET Scan Work? Injection of the Tracer – A radioactive tracer, usually fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) , is injected into the patient’s bloodstream. Absorption by Cells – The tracer circulates throughout the body and is absorbed by tissues based on their metabol...

 Diagnosed on the 8th, we met our oncologist on the 13th. Sitting in the waiting room is odd, numbing almost. The brain whirls wondering what to expect, what's next. We sat witing with my folder of research and as quick as that we were called in. Our nurse Mel was in the room (very nice to put a face to the voice that had supported us so well this far) and our oncologist. A very well dressed, happy looking man. Instant relief for both of us. Tony and I are both very highly in tune and hyper aware of body language and expressions. We introduced ourselves, shook everyone's hand and sat down. Tony took my hand and squeezed 3 times. I love you. This is positive, everyone is  upbeat, no one is looking at the floor muttering. Our doctor showed us the previous endoscopy tests, allowing us to see the changes inside Tony's pipes and look at the cancer. Literally face the enemy! Dr Gikkas walked us through in detail what had been found so far, he explained that the CT scan showed the...

When life throws you a curveball, you have options. You can't always see them straight away though. Sometimes you have to let the dust settle, which is exactly what we did. Our inital feelings are hard to put into words. For Tony, fear, shock. He's a brilliant problem solver and his first instinct was that he needed to get his affairs in order, plan for the worst.  That's the issue with Cancer. It's scary, we don't talk about it. We hear a stage and assume death sentence. Instantly envisioning hair loss, sunken eyes. I think it's ingrained into us, yet we forget how far treatment and technology have come over the year. I was terrified, anticipatory grief. Intrusive thoughts about what was about to him, Chemo, illness. The fear of losing him, seeing him in pain. Again, negative connotations that instantly jump to mind.  One thing that might sound strange is how the thought or idea of losing the person you love is horrific, it hurts in a way I don't know how t...

 Hey! Thanks for joining us and taking the time to read this. Long story short, if you're looking to read a blog about living with Oesophageal Cancer, you're in the right place! Short story long.... My name's Jo, I'm in my early 30's, live with Type 1 Diabetes and I'm partner to Tony. In November 2024 Tony was diagnosed with Stage 3 Oesophageal Cancer. We've started this blog to raise awareness, our experiences, tips and things we've learned along the way.  The highs and lows, good and bad. Oh and have a good vent every so often too! So how did we find ourselves here? - PS, there's going to be a lot of plurals in here, lots of ''We''. While it's Tony that has the Cancer, I promised him from the start that he won't face a single moment of this alone, and as a result ''we'' have Cancer. Tony has had acid reflux for a long time, years in fact. It's always been managed with over the counter tablets like Nexium ...