Pain question...

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Lylesmyprince
Lylesmyprince Member Posts: 130
edited March 2014 in Esophageal Cancer #1
Since Lyle has had the stent put in his esophagus he has more hiccups followed my pain in his chest. Eating is better...but sometimes the pain is very intense. In my opinion, it seems the pain is increasing since we are almost 3 weeks into treatment. Has this been true for anyone else? Lyle wants to be independant as much as possible so he does not want to take pain meds during the day so he can continue to drive...but at night I think it would be wise. None of the doctors have offered this yet...so I wonder...do I call the oncologist or the radiologist?

Thanks for always being willing to answer questions,
Susie

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  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #2
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  • dragonflymom
    dragonflymom Member Posts: 46
    #3
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    Hi Susie. My mom had her
    Hi Susie. My mom had her first stent put in on March 17. She has since been back to the hospital three times to "fix" it. Her tumor though had progressed from her esophagus into her trachea so that caused many of her problems.

    She had pain with the first one and shortness of breath just three days after they inserted it. One week after the first placement they put a new stent on top of the original one in her esophagus and then had to put one in her trachea as well. Last week they had to replace the stents again. This time because the radiation did its job but left a hole where the tumor was and air was getting into her esophagus.

    While the stents were necessary for her to breathe, they have caused her many problems since the first implant. Her doctor explained that she may have some discomfort and coughing as there is technically a foreign object in her esophagus and the body's instinct is to remove it.

    I hope that your husband is able to come up with something that will help him.

    Take care,
    Amy
  • mumphy
    mumphy Member Posts: 440
    #4
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    dragonflymom said:

    Hi Susie. My mom had her
    Hi Susie. My mom had her first stent put in on March 17. She has since been back to the hospital three times to "fix" it. Her tumor though had progressed from her esophagus into her trachea so that caused many of her problems.

    She had pain with the first one and shortness of breath just three days after they inserted it. One week after the first placement they put a new stent on top of the original one in her esophagus and then had to put one in her trachea as well. Last week they had to replace the stents again. This time because the radiation did its job but left a hole where the tumor was and air was getting into her esophagus.

    While the stents were necessary for her to breathe, they have caused her many problems since the first implant. Her doctor explained that she may have some discomfort and coughing as there is technically a foreign object in her esophagus and the body's instinct is to remove it.

    I hope that your husband is able to come up with something that will help him.

    Take care,
    Amy

    Susie
    Hi Susie,

    The pain from the stent could be from several things, the first is that you have to remember that it is pressing against his tumor and that will caus some discomfort for a while but as the tumor shrinks that should go away. Two it could have possibly moved and if he continues to have discomfort have them check the placement, and last is that the chemo and or radiation does cause the esophagus to swell before it shrinks so that also could be causing it.

    I'm not a doctor but I have lived through it so check with his doc and see what he says he will probably want to check the placement.

    I know that Al's bothered him for a while but as the tumor was shrinking and the swelling of the esophagus went down it worked wonders.

    Your husband might want to take a little extra pain med in the middle of the day to calm it down.

    It is something that can easily be fixed so just check with the doc.

    Hope the helps.

    God Bless,
    Kath
  • Lylesmyprince
    Lylesmyprince Member Posts: 130
    #5
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    mumphy said:

    Susie
    Hi Susie,

    The pain from the stent could be from several things, the first is that you have to remember that it is pressing against his tumor and that will caus some discomfort for a while but as the tumor shrinks that should go away. Two it could have possibly moved and if he continues to have discomfort have them check the placement, and last is that the chemo and or radiation does cause the esophagus to swell before it shrinks so that also could be causing it.

    I'm not a doctor but I have lived through it so check with his doc and see what he says he will probably want to check the placement.

    I know that Al's bothered him for a while but as the tumor was shrinking and the swelling of the esophagus went down it worked wonders.

    Your husband might want to take a little extra pain med in the middle of the day to calm it down.

    It is something that can easily be fixed so just check with the doc.

    Hope the helps.

    God Bless,
    Kath

    Kath
    What you said makes really good sense. He did have the radiologist check the placement tonight and it is still in good position. We understood the initial pain was from the stent pressing on the tumor...but I just thought it should be getting better...not worse. But when you explained the swelling from the treatment...I remembered the doctor telling us that! Thank you!! He is going to ask the oncologist for some pain medication tomorrow when he goes in for his 3rd chemo treatment. Thank you for taking the time. I think about you often!!! It is amazing how much we can care about people we have never met!

    Susie
  • Tina Blondek
    Tina Blondek Member Posts: 1,500 Member
    #6
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    Lylesmyprince said:

    Kath
    What you said makes really good sense. He did have the radiologist check the placement tonight and it is still in good position. We understood the initial pain was from the stent pressing on the tumor...but I just thought it should be getting better...not worse. But when you explained the swelling from the treatment...I remembered the doctor telling us that! Thank you!! He is going to ask the oncologist for some pain medication tomorrow when he goes in for his 3rd chemo treatment. Thank you for taking the time. I think about you often!!! It is amazing how much we can care about people we have never met!

    Susie

    Hello Susie and Lyle,
    Glad
    Hello Susie and Lyle,
    Glad to hear that the placement of the stent is still good. My dad a stent in his esophagus, and a stent in the bile duct of his liver. Both did their job, and he did not have any problems with them. In the beginning, I do remember him saying he had a sore throat, and his voice was horse. This should get better with the tumor shrinking and the swelling going down. I would also advise him to take some kind of pain med to lessen the pain. Best of luck to both of you, and keep fighting!!
    Tina

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