Ray, Jr.

Hello all, just checking in and for those of you following my brother's condition as of today he is doing ok.
He did have a bad week last week in a lot of pain but he got through it.
He was to have Pet done Friday but insurance would not pay for it. I guess it is a costly test.
Well, Kathy (his wife) called around and the cancer society is going to pay for him to have the test!!
I don't know all the details but they were just praising God for making a way for him to have this test.
My mom made him some more dressing with cranberry sauce and a peach cobbler and he was able to eat twice of it all.
For some reason, right now anyhow, he can get down cornbread dressing and keep it down.
I will let you all know when he goes for the PET and the results.
So be praying, of course he wants good news!
I do hope and pray you all will have as close to normal Christmas as you can.
Thank you for letting me be a part of your family here.

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Well there has been a bit of a change. Turns out the cancer society will not be paying for the test he will have to wait to the first of January so his medicare (or medicaid ?) whichever one it is, will pay for it. So today he goes for another test,not sure which test but it is one insurance will pay for. It does not show up everything like the PET but he will have this one today and the first of the new year the PET.
Yesterday again he was in pain in the esophagus. My husband said maybe it is because he is eating more and this is irritating the esophagus but I believe it is that stent.

Please NEVER have a stent placement unless of course there is absolutely no other alternative.
Here is a little information on stents from the ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology, it reads: Introduction: Esophageal stents are considered as the cornerstone for palliative management of dysphagia in esophageal cancer. Recent studies have shown that although the dysphagia scores improve in patients with stent placement, it is associated with significant complications and mortality. Conclusions: Palliative esophageal stent placement is associated with high morbidity and complications in patients with malignant dysphagia.

This is where Jr. gets all his pain and discomfort. Wished he could have this taken out but how risky would that be after having it in for about 16 months?

I will let you know the results of todays test as soon as I hear and the type of test it was.