I've been a lurker of this site for some time now. Pretty much since my diagnosis of Esophageal Cancer on Oct 12 of last year. The main reason *I* come here is not only to read and empathise with the stories of other Cancer sufferers but to look for hope for myself. I am hoping I can do that for someone with my type of Cancer today. Generally we Esophagus patients don't always have a great prognosis to look forward to. I'm not being all doom and gloom, it's just a fact. Our Cancer has no preventative scan and generally when symptoms do show up, our Cancer is advanced. My tumour is quite large in size and somehow connected to my Aorta which means surgery is out of the question. I did the drill of chemo and radiation quite positively and it never even occurred to me at that time that I might actually die from this. Of course, when that conveyor belt of treatment, Dr's appointments, blood tests,etc. stopped is when it hit me. A major, major dose of depression followed. Anytime I had a blood test that was slightly abnormal I freaked out. My last CT scan expressed some concern about Metastasis. Although my Oncologist told me he was not worried and that the report was overly cautious (they did not have access to my previous films for some reason) I panicked. We Cancer people dread that "M" word don't we. So I had a Full Body PET Scan on Thursday and got my report yesterday. April 12 by pure coincidence. According to that, I have had "COMPLETE RESPONSE TO TREATMENT" In other words my Cancer is gone. It goes on to say that there is nothing in my Esophagus, Liver, Brain or elsewhere. I am beyond over the Moon. Now I know there is a good chance of recurrence, but we will be vigilant and I am more than grateful to have a second chance. I wanted to post this for anyone who is freshly diagnosed or in despair right now. Recovery and good health IS possible. Never ever give up. I'm not. ... View more