Excess Saliva

Alaska_Kim
Alaska_Kim Member Posts: 34
in Esophageal Cancer #1
My husband had his second dilation last Monday and his second round of chemo Tuesday (Epirubicin, Oxaliplatin and Xeloda). He is 8 weeks post MIE. He is going have yet a 3rd dilation on the 20th of June; should be the last. He ate fine on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday, he started having problems. Anything he puts in his mouth now either causes excessive salivation and throwing up clear sticky saliva, or he gets what he calls a lump that won't go down and his food comes back up.

We have tried all sorts of things to try to get food to stay down (stopped anything that had dairy, sugar, acidic food; went back to soft mushy food and no luck) including taking the anti nausea meds. Although at this moment is iabdul ing on an Ensure of all things without any problem; Saturday, he couldn't keep apple sauce or sugar free Jello down, but ham and bean soup and a Kudo bar worked. I have been researching and cannot seem to find much for post surgery patients experiencing this other than the symptoms suggest a dilation is needed! The listed chemo side effects do mention nausea and vomiting, but he really hasn't been nauseous. Thank god he still has the J-tube!

I'm hoping some of you other post surgery patients may have experienced something similar and can share what may have worked for you or possible causes. If things don't settle down today, we are going to call his GI doc tomorrow and see if we can't get to the bottom of this. This is so disheartening, we keep hoping for some consistency, but it seems like we start over at square one week after week.

Any suggestions are more than welcomed! Thank you, Kim

Comments

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #2
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  • sandy1943
    sandy1943 Member Posts: 824
    #3
    Kim, I understand about the
    Kim, I understand about the dilations. I had surgery three yrs. ago and I still have problems with swallowing. Two weeks ago I had my third dilation in six months. The doctor said this one was more successful than any I've had , but I'm already having problems. I don't know what to do next, but I don't want any kind of corrective surgery.
    Praying yours will be a success, Sandra
  • Alaska_Kim
    Alaska_Kim Member Posts: 34
    #4
    unknown said:

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator

    Thank you
    Hi William, Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Mikes GI doc has surgeries scheduled all week, but did fit him in Thursday to do another scope, possible dilation then instead of next Monday. He is also probably going to take some biopies (scary thought, but we need to know whats going on, if possible). I convinced Mike to go back to smooth liquids until then since he didnt have these issues prior to the last dilation and today has been more of the same. The possibility of the tube twisted caught my attention and I will ask his Dr. Thursday. We are also going to contact the surgeon again and pick his brain for suggestions. It is interesting that you mentioned Dr. Luketich and going the distance. I found all of the discussion about him when we were at our first visit to MD Anderson and asked my husband if he wanted to get a third opinion. I was prepared to get on the next flight out of town if that was what he wanted. His answer was that he was comfortable with the doctors, their surgery experience and their treatment plan. He has been more than satisfied with the staff there and his surgeon as busy as he is, is very responsive to our questions and concerns. That being said, if I'm not comfortable with any aspect of my husbands continued treatment, I will be pushing hard for a new set of eyes to review his case; specifically, Dr. luketich.

    Kim
  • Alaska_Kim
    Alaska_Kim Member Posts: 34
    #5
    sandy1943 said:

    Kim, I understand about the
    Kim, I understand about the dilations. I had surgery three yrs. ago and I still have problems with swallowing. Two weeks ago I had my third dilation in six months. The doctor said this one was more successful than any I've had , but I'm already having problems. I don't know what to do next, but I don't want any kind of corrective surgery.
    Praying yours will be a success, Sandra

    Frustrating!
    It must be so frustrating for you to still be dealing with this. I'm almost afraid to tell my husband that you continue to have issues with swallowing, but I believe it is better to share others experiences in case there is no quick fix. Once you notice the swallowing problems, is it all the time or just certain foods? There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason with my husband. He is going to go back to smooth liquids until he gets checked again Thursday. He kept everything down last week on blended food. I hope you get some answers also. I'll keep you posted on what we find out.

    Kim
  • Alaska_Kim
    Alaska_Kim Member Posts: 34
    #6
    sandy1943 said:

    Kim, I understand about the
    Kim, I understand about the dilations. I had surgery three yrs. ago and I still have problems with swallowing. Two weeks ago I had my third dilation in six months. The doctor said this one was more successful than any I've had , but I'm already having problems. I don't know what to do next, but I don't want any kind of corrective surgery.
    Praying yours will be a success, Sandra

    Frustrating! Sorry for the double post!
    It must be so frustrating for you to still be dealing with this. I'm almost afraid to tell my husband that you continue to have issues with swallowing, but I believe it is better to share others experiences in case there is no quick fix. Once you notice the swallowing problems, is it all the time or just certain foods? There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason with my husband. He is going to go back to smooth liquids until he gets checked again Thursday. He kept everything down last week on blended food. I hope you get some answers also. I'll keep you posted on what we find out.

    Kim
  • Alaska_Kim
    Alaska_Kim Member Posts: 34
    #7
    unknown said:

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator

    Update
    My husband had another dilation today (to 12 mm). He was told he can get another one in 2 - 4 weeks if needed, but that things seem to be holding their own. His Dr. said that the white froth and excess secretions from the saliva glands in his cheeks are indicators of chemo side effects and not a result of any surgery complications or stricture- good news! Mike is also starting to get a bacteria infection in his mouth and was prescribed something to treat that, which hasn't helped matters.

    So, we are going to now keep him on anti nausea meds around the clock through the next few days of Xeloda to see if that minimizes the problem. His Oncologist wants him to up his calories and he will have to do supplemental night feedings through the J-Tube until we can get more in by mouth. I feel so much better, we were both really starting to worry about why he couldn't get through a day without eating and swallowing problems. He is climbing the walls for "real food" and hopefully on his week off will be able to do so before he starts round 3.

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