Stent Finally!

Hi Carol!

First time posting here, my husband was diagnosed OC March-18,T3N2M0, had chemoradiation then local recurrence in September. Surgery not an option as had indentation on trachea. At that point he was finding food getting stuck so was fitted with a stent straight away. It was done as a day case and before discharge we saw the dietician who gave specific advice about drinking and eating afterwards. I must admit he had a fair bit of pain and discomfort afterwards as the stent slowly expands. They said maybe uncomfortable for three days, well it was more like three weeks. I have read though that many don't have any problems at all so let's hope your husband is one of them. Whilst reading up on it I got the impression that the discomfort/pain is under reported maybe because there is no specific follow up after the procedure. In the end it was all worth it because can eat anything he fancies now. 

Good luck for Tuesday and all the best

Sylvia

Hi Sylvia

Thank you so much for replying, was a stressful day, hubby passed out in the gastro unit through dehydration low blood pressure. Put him on a drip and said they would delay till lunchtime. The consultant came to see him and said that it may be difficult because of the 2 tumours but he would do his best. I popped home then realised I was shaking and felt sick at the thought it may not be possible and what that would do to him mentally because anything that can go wrong does seem to with him. Anyway he managed it now he has 2 stents fitted, he's home and had a few sips of water and same of milk but he is in pain ( but he was before so cant say its due to stent)

Going to start on milk drinks and 2kal and soups then hopefully move on to actual food. Just hoping his quality of life can now improve because its gone from a full life to a housebound life for both of us and our 18-year-old daughter has felt like she needs to be out all the time. 

Did your husband build up slowly eating many small meals? Any tips for build up appreciated hubby was 14 stone when this all started he's now just over 8 and looks 80 not 57 so needs filling up

Big Hugs

Carol xx

Hi Carol!

Sorry to hear about the stressful day at the hospital but really good they managed to fit the stents. If I remember right it was fluids for a few days, then moving to sloppy and soft food then a bit of trial and error but avoid some meats and white bread although toast was okay. After some time my husband was eating pretty much normal and have been until recently. He finished palliative chemotherapy in February that kept the tumour stable but ended up with hospital admissions because of chest infections and neutropenia and now we seems to have run out of treatment options. Eating less now and with more difficulty, mainly because of the constant mucus build up and coughing, totally draining for him. He lost his voice due to vocal cord paralysis but had a procedure last week to try and rectify that so now luckily he can speak rather well again. I know what you mean about being housebound and it's a steep learning curve not to plan ahead and take one day at a time.

take care

Sylvia