Oesophageal stent

I am glad that you are feeling better and able to eat fish fingers  . Hope things will continue to improve x

EIGHT !!!!!!   Not oesophageal surely? I'm impressed and feel I must be some kind of a wuss, as an ex ODP and Nurse I thought I was tough

Morning Pepperpot, NO, all cardio related, but my dysphagia makes a oesophageal stent almost certain, and your certainly not a wuss my friend, the seemingly never ending cycle of test, treatment, and "recovery", grinds us down at times making us feel vulnerable and emotional, well i'm in hospital for a day or two for tests, yippee, how about you, anything planned for today?, I hope it's a better one for you, whatever you do.

Eddie xx

Hi Eddie, ergh in hospital I'm sorry it can really grind you down, but I sense you can float above this temporary situation .I feel I should also point out that what has happened with my oesophageal stent is I'm told " unusual" so I hope it haven't put you off having one.I can eat normally now too which has made it a worthwhile procedure to have.They x-rayed the stent yesterday and I'm told this morning I'm very lucky the chaos of last 8 days hasn't dislodged it.Only other thing is my infection marker in my bloods is on the high side, but as long as I'm felling ok they're not concerned.So now recovery time and then Cycle 1.

Lx

Weather here is fresh and rainy which is actually rather nice " sweet summer rain" infinitely preferable to crispy baking hot for us sensitive ones.Although I love walking the dogs and being out in the elements it can become a pressure so it was time to hand it over to others...the digs smell back exhausted, wet and filthy but happy and I enjoyed a bath, and some quiet time. I shall enjoy just doing Sat & Sun walks from now on.

Thinking of you Eddie x

What have you done to yourself Eddie, they couldn't all be in your heart? Oh Eddie, I do NOT want to even try to catch you up lol. I only had anaesthetic in my arm, where the wire goes up through the wrist. Strange feeling when you can feel the wire going up the arm.

Pepperpot, why did you need the stent, was it due to cancer or an obstruction? (If that's not too intrusive a question). For several years, about 25, I have had choking problems when food was stuck and I was unable to breathe. My wife would have said, take a drink, take a drink. I tried, but the food was stuck fast and the water wouldn't go down, it just filled my mouth and overflowed out. Very, very frightening when you can't breathe. Thankfully I was able to make myself sick, and that cleared the blockage.

Well, about 9 months ago I had a hospital appointment and it was an investigation into why that was happening. What they did was, gave me a banana to eat and watched me. An x-ray was taken and that showed food building up in my oesophagus. Why? 

I was called back a month later, given various items to eat and then multiple x-rays were taken. They played it back in quick time so it looked like a film. The x-rays/film showed that one of the vertebrae in my neck, T2-T3 or something like that, had a protrusion that was pressing against my oesophagus and preventing the normal passage of food into the stomach! 

Now I must carefully chew my food small enough to pass the obstruction. About once a week a piece is too large and I have a little problem. Hope it never turns into a big problem. The doctor that day discussed an operation but said his opinion is that it's too risky to correct it with so many nerves around.

Apologies for the long reply 

Tvman x

Hi TVman, you poor thing dysphagia is unpleasant.My inoperable tumour in my oesophagus had pretty much grown to block the passage of food and liquids down the pipe, so we all agreed it was time for a stent.Its a kind of wire mesh expandable inner tube that they can pass down a guide wire beside the tumour, this then expands over 7 days to push the tumor to one side allowing the free passage of food again.They can put stent in upon stent, upon stent if necessary.The tumour with often grow again to absorb the stent and you're back to square one.

In the unlikely but possible event my Herceptin treatment shrinks the tumour the stent just falls into my stomach where it lies forever! I'm not certain of your case history but would suggest that a stent may not be possible due to the T2/T3 vertebrae ( T means Thoracic and the number just what position in the line it is) 

I'm so sorry that you are living with this daily it's tough and especially when you feel that fear that you may suddenly not be able to breathe.Have you tried just fizzy water/ colas for when you eat? I am using this method too to help food go down and not block the stent. 

Thinking of you tvMan we are all heros x

Dear Pepperpot

hoping that you feel more comfortable today. Although it does not make for pleasant reading, I find your description of stent very informative. I feel it will be inevitable that I will need one. They have been mentioned as  likely in the future but I haven’t asked any questions about them. So it is very useful to hear a patient’s point of view. My tumour is in my hiatus hernia - I think it moves to facilitate swallowing.

Best wishes

Hi Rosiee, I do hope my experience hasn't terrified anyone!  An oesophageal stent is a good thing I feel but a) you need to be fully aware that it can take 7-10 days to settle down and fully expand.b) My tumour seems very vascular so there's been a lot of the red stuff.This won't happen in every case it depends on your tumour...mine is an adenocarcinoma.c.) blood really irritates the stomach lining and therefore makes you want to vomit.I wasn't sent home with any anti emetics post procedure on the Wednesday ,so I continued being sick hourly for 3 days.Luckily I did have some Cyclizine at home but it was 3 yrs old so not very effective.Only when 111 prescribed in date Cyclizine did things start to improve a bit.But the game changer was when my CNS got Oramorph prescribed and instead of Cyclizine ...Ondansetron on the Monday.

Straightway I can eat and drink normally, no sipping or pureeing.I drink fizzy water with food and after to keep the stent clean.No idea how long the stent will keep the oesophagus open but I intend cramming in the calories to try to make up the weight lost last few days.x

I'm so pleased to read that you are doing much better, and able to eat and drink normally again!

Onwards and upwards....

xxx Kate