MIL recently diagnosed with stage 4 OC

Dear SMW

I am sorry to hear about your MIL your family must be in shock. I have a similar diagnosis to her but I too am unable to have surgery. Only about 23% of OC patients are offered surgery.

The reason is not because it is not available on the NHS you will find many members of this forum have had NHS surgery.

I was told in my first consultation: Patients must be fit enough to tolerate aggressive chemotherapy before and after surgery and the surgery itself. And that the cancer must be localised ie no distant metastases.

i do not have any experience of feeding tubes but again there are many members of this forum who do and you will likely some helpful advice. 

Regards 

Hi SMW 

So sorry to hear about your MIL.
There are a lot of factors why surgery can’t be offered but it’s certainly available on the NHS .It could be that her cancer is too advanced to be operated on ….M1 usually means the cancer has spread beyond the primary site and to distant organs , sadly at this stage it’s only usually palliative care which is offered .

My husband had a JEJ feeding tube fitted into his duodenum  as he was on the curative intent pathway .His OC was fortunately operable at Stage 2 and contained within the oesophagus… Others on here have had a stent fitted to assist them with swallowing .

Has a way forward and any possible treatment been discussed with you or are you still waiting to hear ? 

Best wishes  J 

Thank you the reply. The cancer has gone to the liver, which we was aware of from the start. That was detected before the OC. It was just a shock to hear them surgery wasn't available, we had hoped it may be considered further down the line... 

She is awaiting chemo, this has been delayed due to the complications with the NG feeding tube. She's very malnourished as she hadn't eaten for around 10 weeks before being diagnosed and due to these complications hasn't been on much liquid food in the three weeks she's been in hospital.

We have been told today that they're now willing to give her a stent. We initially got told she couldn't have this as the risk of it dropping into her stomach was too great.

We're hoping this allows her to eat something whether that be liquid or puree, we just couldn't understand why they wouldn't try an alternative feeding tube, as like you've mentioned the JEJ tube seems to be offered to many patients.

We've been feeling like they just aren't exploring every avenue, and giving up do early onto her fight.

It's a horrible waiting game as ultimately chemo holds the cards now, and you just do not know how the cancer is going to react to that 

That feels like a very low % we was just really shocked to hear it, we had hoped it might be considered later down the line.

Why is the feeding tube failing 

It caused the tumour to bleed, and it ended up being too far down and coiled up in her stomach too. They took the first one out, tried it again and it caused more bleeding which then has affected her PH balance. They said they can't start the food until her PH is at 5 it was 8. They have had her on drip food and has been nill by mouth for the last week

They have now decided to remove the tube completely and put a stent it. In the meantime she's getting very little inside her and is getting weaker by the day. We just want them to feed her, she's more ill now than she was before she got admitted into hospital 

Sorry to hear about your mil I was fed through a picc line for three weeks before I had my jej tube fitted it was called TPN and it’s tailored to your needs so she will be getting nutrients if that’s how she is being fed ‘

Hi again 

I can understand your frustrations as pre diagnosis when my husbands symptoms from this awful disease were at their worst , we had to push for nutritional assistance .(Long story but they later admitted they could’ve handled it better ! ) 

I know from experience it feels like things aren’t moving quickly enough and the waiting is an extremely anxious time but if it’s any comfort to know there will be research and meetings regarding your MIL’s case going on in the background and I’m sure her medical team will do everything in their power to help her . Hopefully the stent will make a difference and will benefit her .

There are other members on here who have stents , I’m sure they can give you more of an insight to how they found the experience and if having a stent was beneficial to them .

Sincerely hope your MIL’s current situation improves soon and she can have her treatment .

Sending strength and hope to you all at this difficult  time 

J 

It's very hard to see her looking and feeling so unwell, my Husband is very scared he only last his Dad two years ago so he's extremely anxious 

Communication with them hasn't been the best and my husband has had to push for updates and answers, which has also added stress to my MIL and the family which you really just don't need.

I'm praying the stent is successful and she can begin eating again. That'll be a relief for her and for us too 

Thank you for your kind words, it has definitely helped reading posts on here and I've been feeding back all of your stories to my MIL which is providing some comfort