STENT

Hi Hoping33 and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is an informative and supportive place to be.

I'm sorry to read that you've been diagnosed with oesophageal cancer which has spread to your liver. Although I had a different type of cancer I know what a difficult time this will be for you.

I can't answer your questions but noticed that your post hadn't had any replies yet so responding to you will 'bump' it back to the top of the discussion list where hopefully it'll be seen by someone with the right experience.

Have you spoken to your team about the reasoning behind having a stent fitted and the choice of treatment they propose? They will be best placed to answer these questions.

While you're waiting for replies it would be great if you could pop something about your diagnosis and treatment so far into your profile as it really helps others when replying to you and also when looking for someone on a similar pathway. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. To do this click on your username and then select 'Profile'. You can amend it at any time and if you're not sure what to write you can take a look at mine by clicking on my username.

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"does a stent mean end of the road ?"

No. It is merely a way of enlarging the oesophageal sphinctre keeping it open, and allowing food to go down more easily. It is a purely mechanical device intended to facilitate eating more than liquids.

"And why would they fit if able to tolerate liquids soup etc ?"

Because naturally people want to be able to eat 'proper' food.

There is therefore no direct connection with whether other treatmenst are offered. It is not an either or. Each form of treatment stands (almost) on its own according to the corcumstances. 

Situations vary so much, that the right thing to do is to formulate your questions and ask them of your medical team who have seen your scans, and  clearly have proper medical knowledge.