Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your prayers, support, and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.
How did we get here? In May 2018, Tom noticed he was having trouble swallowing a piece of ham. He needed extra water “to make it go down”. His primary care doctor referred him to a few specialists and on June 26, 2018 he had an endoscopy performed and it showed a tumor of his lower esophagus. The biopsy confirmed adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. This is a serious type of cancer that tends to spread and needs to be treated aggressively. It often is diagnosed after it has spread because of the elasticity of the esophagus.
Treatment Plan: A CT scan was performed on June 28, 2018 and it confirmed the cancer had not spread to his lungs but did show a saddle pulmonary embolism (large blood clot) and he was hospitalized and on IV blood thinners for three days. He continues to take an oral blood thinner as a result. On July 5, 2018 Tom had a PET scan and at that time it was determined to be stage 3 involving nearby lymph nodes. Targeted radiation with chemo was to start July 16, 2018. In the meantime, a second opinion was obtained on July 10, 2018 by a team of esophageal cancer specialists at the Cleveland Clinic main campus. They suspect the cancer is stage 4 with distant spread. Under their care, testing to confirm this is underway and a port for chemotherapy was inserted on July 18, 2018. Chemotherapy started July 24, 2018.
At this point in time, we are requesting prayers for a good response to chemotherapy. We will update with details along this journey and if and when we need more support we will let you know.
In the meantime, please keep Tom and our family in your prayers.
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