OOSO

A telephone support line is available seven days a week from 10am to 4pm. It is confidential and staffed by past patients. We will listen to worries and concerns about cancer, the treatment offered and the future. We offer information, advice and support based on our experience. There are no taboo topics. We are not judgemental. We have empathy because we've been there before.Please note, this is not a medical advice line. Should you need specific medical advice please contact your GP or a member of the medical team who treated you while in hospital.Our advice is not limited to patients. The job of the Health Service is to get patients well enough to leave hospital as soon as is practicable. It's when a patient is discharged from hospital that their carers take on the roles of chef, valet, psychologist, shopper, mentor, coach and nurse to name but a few. For some the challenge can be quite daunting. Who has trained the carer for such responsibilities? Fear not. OOSO is here to help you too.We know the right course of action and the right time for action.We provide advice in the way that suits you the best. We respond to emails. We take and make telephone calls. We visit you on the ward. We meet for a coffee at a convenient location. If you choose, we'll also visit you at home. This website has been built with the intention of giving free information as well as moral and emotional support to anyone affected by oesophageal or stomach cancer (cancer of the oesophagus or gastric cancer). This advice is drawn from former patients and members of OOSO who have experienced the treatment and operation associated with our types of cancer. None of the information offered is to be considered health information and does not intend to replace any help and advice you receive from any of your medical advisors. Initially a cancer diagnosis is scary. However, many past patients have recovered and gone on to do amazing things. It can be life changing but it can provide the spur to live life more enjoyably.Before the operation it helps to be as physically fit as possible. The fitter you are the faster you can recover from the operation. But a positive mental attitude is almost more important. We have seen it so often. Those with the determination to beat the Big C recover quickly and get back to living well at the earliest opportunity. I am writing on behalf of the Upper GI Nurse Practitioner team at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to endorse the clinical team’s support for the work that the Oxfordshire Oesophageal and Stomach Organisation (OOSO) offers to our group of patients, their families and carers. In addition to this, as a clinical team, we appreciate enormously the support for the hospital team itself and the provision of such an important service, which supplements the care that we offer throughout the patient pathway.Mrs Anne M. PhillipsUpper Gastrointestinal Advanced Nurse Practitioner The Oxford OesophagoGastric team was set up in 1997, and has become one of the largest such units in the country. The support provided by Jackie and the Oxfordshire Oesophageal and Stomach Organisation (OOSO) to patients with oesophageal and stomach cancer plays a vital role in their management, and is a major contribution to the better outcomes we are seeing with this cancer in recent years.Mr N D Maynard MS FRCS (Gen)Consultant Upper GI Surgeon DisclaimerWe have made every effort to ensure that the information we provide is accurate but it should not be relied upon to reflect the current state of medical research, which is constantly changing.If you are concerned about your health you should consult a doctor. OOSO cannot accept liability for any loss or damage resulting from any inaccuracy in this information or third party information such as information on websites to which we link.