Question about side effects from rad

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nancyann3
nancyann3 Member Posts: 173 Member
edited March 2014 in Esophageal Cancer #1
Hubby has been having some side effects that I wanted to ask you all about. His rad is finished now, but we were told it will continue to work for a couple of weeks after.

He has been having upset stomach with occational spitting up of nasty bile like liquid. Brownish color he says. Also is having delayed gastric emptying. Stomach seems to not want to empty. Has anyone one had this?


Thanks for any info.
Nancy

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  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #2
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  • Callaloo
    Callaloo Member Posts: 135
    #3
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    effects continue after rad ends
    Nancy,
    The worst for me came in the 4 weeks after radiation ended, so your husband can expect it to get worse before it gets better. I had severe esophageal pain and stomach pain with dry heaves. And I spit up nearly everything I tried to eat or drink. BUT when anything came up, it was clear or cloudy, with an occasional small speck of bright red blood. Never did I spit up anything that was brownish that I recall, unless it was identifiable as something I'd just tried to eat. I probably would have called the docs immediately if that had happened. I'm not saying it's cause for alarm, but it was not one of the side effects that I was warned about. Does your husband have a stent? Maybe it's related to that. I didn't have one, so I don't know. Sherri has far more experience in this area than I. But I strongly urge you to consult your husband's doc over this question. My cancer clinic was on-call 24/7.

    I was having concurrent chemo, so some of the problems were attributable to the cumulative effects of chemo, but not the pain or heaving (dry or not). Extra IV hydration helped. Once I overcame my reluctance to take pain meds (due to my concern it would aggravate the abdominal pain) things got much, much better. I did have lots of abdominal distress, but it too was alleviate, rather than aggravated, by the pain meds.

    I'm sorry I don't know the history in your case. I haven't figured out how to search posts by member name, or if there's a way to do that.

    Lu
  • nancyann3
    nancyann3 Member Posts: 173 Member
    #4
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    Callaloo said:

    effects continue after rad ends
    Nancy,
    The worst for me came in the 4 weeks after radiation ended, so your husband can expect it to get worse before it gets better. I had severe esophageal pain and stomach pain with dry heaves. And I spit up nearly everything I tried to eat or drink. BUT when anything came up, it was clear or cloudy, with an occasional small speck of bright red blood. Never did I spit up anything that was brownish that I recall, unless it was identifiable as something I'd just tried to eat. I probably would have called the docs immediately if that had happened. I'm not saying it's cause for alarm, but it was not one of the side effects that I was warned about. Does your husband have a stent? Maybe it's related to that. I didn't have one, so I don't know. Sherri has far more experience in this area than I. But I strongly urge you to consult your husband's doc over this question. My cancer clinic was on-call 24/7.

    I was having concurrent chemo, so some of the problems were attributable to the cumulative effects of chemo, but not the pain or heaving (dry or not). Extra IV hydration helped. Once I overcame my reluctance to take pain meds (due to my concern it would aggravate the abdominal pain) things got much, much better. I did have lots of abdominal distress, but it too was alleviate, rather than aggravated, by the pain meds.

    I'm sorry I don't know the history in your case. I haven't figured out how to search posts by member name, or if there's a way to do that.

    Lu

    Thanks for your replies
    Thank you both for your replies. Steve does have a stent and we have had two of them move. He is now on his third. We are always ready for the stent to move. I have been reading about delayed gastric emptying. The surgeon put him on some meds for this a few weeks ago. This problem my be what is causing him to have upset stomach. I've read that rad can be a cause for the slow emptying of the stomach, along with many other things. Just glad he has j tube right now, because he has no appetite. I'm hoping this improves soon.

    Thanks again
    Nancy

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