Esophagus Cancer Death?

Question

My grandfather just found out he has cancer of the esophagus. I have done some reading and I have no illusions of him beating this disease. He is 80 years old and has led a good life. I want to know what his death will be like. I had an uncle die from lung cancer last year and it was the worst thing I have ever seen. He was completely unrecognizable when he died. Please tell me this won't happen to my grandfather.

Answer 1

The terrible deaths associated with esophagus cancer are related to the standard medical treatments - surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy (which unfortunately are seldom successful in providing a cure).
Depending on how advanced is the cancer, and the conditions of your grandfather - the doctors may spare him from some of the treatments.

For some people (especially at old age!) the cancer progresses very slowly. If he he lucky, he may die of old age before the cancer (or the doctors) get to his vital organs.

I think that you should consult several *different* doctors about the condition of your grandfather and the potential benefits of each treatment.

And there are those alternative treatments that can make him feel better, and in some cases also may prolong his life too. It merits to consult about it too.

Some doctors are too keen to use aggressive treatments with limited benefits while other doctors are more conservative.

Answer 2

Lung cancer is one of the slowest, most painful types of cancer. Esophagus cancer is near the other end of the spectrum.

My father-in-law had esophagus cancer. It was only three months from diagnosis to the end. He had surgery that removed his larynx and one round of radiation. The radiation was worse than the cancer, so he stopped the radiation. What actually killed him was being unable to eat, so he didn't suffer much - he did fine once the radiation was halted until he couldn't eat, then he weakened considerably and mostly slept until he died about a week after he stopped eating.