Hi folks; a wee up-date and it's good news.
.... But the core facts are; the chemo did it's job, surgery is scheduled for Nov. 17th. Recovery in hospital will be 2+ weeks. Maybe less. Full recovery into next Spring/Summer. Possible second dose of chemo, depending on the results from whatever they cut out of me. It will be the lower part of the oesophagus and part of the stomach. It's an all day operation so classified as major....
Follow their instructions closely so you don't mess anything up, and it should work out. You will probably lose a lot of muscle mass from inactivity, so you should factor in some physical therapy to recover too. And for bike touring, which is an endurance sport with multi-hour continuous exertion, you may need to re-train your body organs for endurance purposes.
I know a gal that had leukemia about a year ago, chemo treatments, long stay in hospital, etc. She was telling me that her type of cancer and treatment meant that she lost most of her immunity, so she had to be careful to avoid potential exposure to just about every potential infection. If you are in that situation, be extra careful that you do not succumb to some simple illness that we no longer think is worth mentioning.
I like to have a paper notepad and pen in hand when I talk to the medical staff. Four days ago my Dr and I briefly discussed how paper notes are becoming a thing of the past. I of course was writing with a fountain pen.
Studies have shown that when you write something on paper, you have much better memory retention of that than if you typed it on a keyboard.