Stents

Hi Chuddy my dad was given a terminal diagnosis April 2018 He has had no treatment, nothing as he was considered too frail and he also has alzheimers which does not mix with chemo. 

Well almost 2 years later and looking forward to his 90th birthday he is still here and doing okay.

He did however have a stent, in fact he has had 3 in all.  He had no pain when they were fitted and no, an operation is not required.  It goes straight down like the endoscopy tube does but you can have a sedative which I would recommend.  Dad does not even know that he has a stent (forgets)  He could eat soft food like shepherds pie for a long time but lately he has been having a lot of sloppy food like scrambled egg. 

When he had his first stent he ate so well that he put on 3 stone over 10 months but then he had pneumonia which set him back.  He did not recover so well from that and lost weight again but he is still here and has a positive outlook which helps.  

I hope that your oncologist recommends palliative treatment for you and don't be scared of a stent. 

Wishing you well

Hi Alan

My husband was diagnosed on 29th March 2018, terminal OC 2 tumors upper and lower. Had to be fed via nj tube which he had regular problems with. He did receive palliative chemo which was offered no fighting require :) The tumors did shrink to enable him to eat and drink for about 4 months but this was only ever about the quality of life. Back on feed tube by xmas 2018 which kept getting blocked until we asked about stents.

In June 2019 he had 2 fitted upper and lower and he was able to eat again, he contracted aspiration pneumonia in late September last year so they fitted a 3rd which overlapped the other 2.

Stents are definitely better because without them he was unable to eat or drink anything. 

He had a scan at the end of 2019 which has now shown top tumor has grown and his forcing pressure on his windpipe and he now struggles to eat so mainly drinks and soups. Saw his oncologist last week who is putting him on a low dose of chemo (not had chemo since last july as it was getting to much and further reducing his quality of life) and radiotherapy to try and reduce top tumor.

We have never had to fight, maybe because he was fit and healthy physical in physical work and quite frankly think he's outlived their expectations for what he has been through. He turned 59 last week.

Good luck tomorrow

Carol  x