Wow msbp, you've got a lot to deal with.  Try to stop worrying about everyone else forgetting.  Try to live for yourself, not them.  Let them feed themselves etc (unless you have littlies). Treat yourself to whatever you like, as much as you can (but stay healthy -eg good food and exercise). I had malignant melanoma (cut out) 5 years ago and OJC adenocarcinoma (oesophagal junction cancer) 3 years ago. (Chemo and radiotherapy (CRT)). I know money is a major worry for nearly all of us. (I'm single, and have been funding myself for about 3 years - savings and what little superannuation I had is now nearly all gone).   I have some days where I feel "normal" for a couple of hours. A lot of the time, I feel tired.  Everyone has different effects. I agree with the guy who said that you need to learn as much as you can about your type of cancer.  I also agree with the people who said that support services for certain slightly rarer types of cancer, such as oesophagal junction, are non-existent, or inaccessible. An irony for me is that I'd like to get out of Sydney, and go somewhere warmer and cheaper; but then I'm a long way away from my very good (I think) medical team.  What is the Brisbane Hospital like? Anyone who knows can send me a private message. Thanks.   ... View more

P.s. Smokey, I had adenocarcinoma too. Kathy (? name) explained a bit about it in a post I saw, to you. It's a serious one. Squamous cell and basal cell cancers are less serious. Regards, ojces12 ... View more

How are you going Smokey? It's a strange journey, I know. I was lucky enough to have had  a 2cm tumour found in my oesophagal junction (OJC) in June 2014, by accident, during a gastroscopy for slight reflux (often associated with a thing called "Barrett's dysplasia", which is apparently a common precursor to OJC).  I think I've written in another post about what treatment I had. If you can't find it, and would like me to discuss this more, feel free to send me a post.  I can't promise to get back to you fast, though.  As you can see, it's taken me 3 years to even get to this stage of joining this website. I've tried before, but it kept telling me that my  password was wrong, etc etc. Best wishes, ojces12 ... View more

Hi I was diagnosed with OJC stage 1/2,   3 years ago. I had radiotherapy, and a drug (pill) called Capeciteabain (or something like that), i.e. chemotherapy. I didn't have the operation recommended by the surgeon, by reason of another pre-existing condition, which I thought would interfere with my recovery. So far, there has been no recurrence in my oesophagus.  I should be joyous, (I was) except that about 2 months ago one of my oncologists decided to get a PET scan of my oesophagus and my brain. I got a c.d. of the scan My interpretation is that there are very worrying black marks in the brain scan.  I see my oncologist soon. ... View more