depression

SandyR62

Its been a month now since my brother had the surgery. He still can't eat or drink . He had the escopagus stretched - the way I understood it, its down where it connects to the intestine , it was the size of a pencil lead and now its as big as a pinky...
.. he now is throwing up all the time. Even though he can't eat or drink , he is still throwing up. He just sits and stares outside. He is getting so depressed and I don't know what to do to help him. I went today to see him, he was sitting there, unshaved, holding his head up listening to a small radio. He never even stopped propping his head up, he just talked a little bit. His voice is still faint, he goes to a speech theropist on the 13th. He goes back Friday if no changes have been made to see if he can stretch the stomach area where it goes into the intestine again... He has lost over 20 pounds in a month... Has any one else had this problem?

Tina Blondek

Thinking of You
Hello and welcome to the EC board. I was a caregiver for my dad. He passed from EC with mets to the liver in March 2010. It sounds like your brother had a stretching procedure, this is not considered surgery. This is usually one of the first steps. If the stretching does not work after several attempts, they will suggest putting in a stent to open up his esophagus more. My dad had stretches as well as a stent put in. The dr told him he had a lot of scar tissue there from the chemo and radiation. The stint helped the most. Once the cancer went to my dad's liver it was only 3 mos. before he passed. I would suggest you call your brother's dr. before the 13th and tell him of the trouble he is having. Having a caregiver is very important for the patient. They need us to take over and step up for them. It sounds to me that his esophagus needs to be opened more. Communication with his drs and nurses is key. Hope my experience has helped. Is your brother able to have the surgery? Keep in touch.
Tina in Va