Marc's Esophageal Cancer Story

diagnosis | surgery | chemo & rad | afterward | resources

chemo & rad - april-june 1995

Five weeks after my release I went back to Mayo for my official surgical sign off and to meet with my oncologists to map out the next phase of my treatment. I was to have three weeks of chemotherapy and five weeks of radiation.

The schedule worked out like this:

Week 1	Weeks 2–4	Week 5	Weeks 6–8	Week 9
Cysplatin (Mon) 5FU (Mon–Thu)	No chemo	Cysplatin (Mon) 5FU (Mon–Thu)	No treatment	Cysplatin (Mon) 5FU (Mon–Thu)
Alternating front or side radiation (Mon–Fri)				No radiation

I had a PICC (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter) line placed each Monday morning during the chemo weeks. I considered the PICC a better option than having a central catheter surgically placed for the entire nine week period. The PICC line came out each Friday and outside of a problem placing it one week, it was a fairly simple procedure.

The Cysplatin was administered through the PICC each Monday of my chemo weeks. The other chemo agent, 5FU wis dispensed continiously over a four day period by a small infusion pump that I wore in a "fanny pack" around my waist.

During the third chemo week Tammy and I actually got out on a golf course in Rochester, infusion pump and all, and I managed to play 5 out of 9 holes. I can't tell you how good that felt, doing something somewhat "normal" in my turned-upside-down world!

The chemo was rough, although its worse effects were short lived. I experienced severe nausea, and kept the oncology nurses working hard to find an anti nausea medication that was effective (3). Zofran worked only when it was administered IV. Ativan was good at fuzzying me up enough not to care. I can't recall if the Compizine worked or not. Finally at the end of the third round, I tried Marinol, a marijuana derivative, which worked exceptionally well at reducing my nausea. I truly have an appreciation now for the efforts to legalize marijuana for medical use!

I continued to lose weight during and after each chemo round - I was down to 142 pounds by the second week at the end of my treatments! Because I was losing almost 15 pounds each chemo week, my medical oncologist, Dr. Richard Goldberg, reduced the chemo dosages in each subsequent round. When Tammy questioned the efficacy of the treatments at the lower dosages, Dr. Goldberg replied:

If we kill the cancer AND the patient we have no net gain.

Tammy got the point right away.

The radiation was a horse of another color! It is an insidious treatment that sneaks up on you. About midway through the 5 weeks of treatment I began coughing and throwing up my tracheal and esophageal lining. Also, since the bottom of my chin was marginally in the radiation field, that part of my beard started falling out sometime in week three. A trip to Cost Cutters in one of Rochester's malls removed the rest of my beard. (It subsequently grew back a few months later.)

The radiation really sapped my energy levels. Within an hour after the day's treatment, I found I had to nap for a few hours. My stamina as a whole started to degrade, a condition that lasted for almost a year. Additionally, I developed something called Radiation Pneumonitis, a scaring of lung tissue that is exposed to radiation. This began about 5 weeks after my last radiation treatment, and took at least six months to clear up.

diagnosis | surgery | chemo & rad | afterward | resources

Photo - Megan & Gwen relaxing in the RV at some National Park, August 2000.

3 - The nurses in the oncology department at Mayo are true heros in every sense of the word. They are a critical part of the chemotherapy process and are your best friends during that phase of treatment. I know that I was only able to meet the demands of my protocol through their tireless effort to make me as comfortable as possible.

When I went back to Mayo for my checkups I always took a few minutes to stop in and thank them again. Unfortunately, I realize how little thanks they get from those whose lives depended upon their efforts. They made a big difference in my life!