Need info about a stent

Mary Pat
Mary Pat Member Posts: 9
in Esophageal Cancer #1
Hi everyone,
I have written about my husband, Rick, who is into his fourth year of the stage IV. He finished 20 rounds of very targeted radiation about ten days ago and is back home from Seattle. He is not doing well at this point. Lots of trouble swallowing and very difficult sleeping. He is considering a stent as the next treatment. We have not had a CT or endoscopy yet to evaluate the radiation treatment.
Have any of you used the stent to assist in swallowing? Any words of advice? thanks.

Comments

  • Daisylin
    Daisylin Member Posts: 365
    #2
    Stent
    Hi,
    My husband Lee (ivb, mets to liver) and I were debating the same thing 5 months ago. We posted on here, and did lots of research to find out if a stent was a good idea or not. Our surgeon was adamant that he should have one, and pushed us hard to get it done. She did one stretch on him, but said that his esophagus was so narrow that she would be too scared to continue doing stretches on him. She thought he would need to be stretched about every week or two. He was at the point where he could not even swallow saliva, and was choking on it. He was 'eating' strictly by GJ tube, and very little fluids by mouth.

    We were strongly warned from our dear friends here NOT to do the stent, with lots of horror stories told, and very few recommendations to get it. (if you search this site back to around October of 2011, you may find my post and the answers we got, it could be under the poster name Leeinlondon as well, as my husband was posting here too) As we thought we had no other option, we decided to go ahead and get the stent put in. Lee was terrified of aspiration, he'd wake up in the night choking on his saliva.....

    So, he got it put in, and within 2 days, he started vomiting blood, lots of it....... we went to the hospital and he was admitted. They did an endoscopy and discovered that the stent had caused tearing in the esophagus, and he was bleeding internally. They wanted to try radiation to zap the tears closed, but during the course of a few days, waiting for the radiation set up and the weekend to be done, he continued to vomit blood and when Monday rolled around, he was too weak and incoherent, and the doctors decided that it was too late for radiation to be effective. They did do several blood transfusions, and clotting medication that I can't remember the name of, and an NG tube to empty his stomach, but to no avail.

    The surgeon told me ( I have no idea why she told me this, must have been a moment of weakness on her part) that she did not check his blood tests before the stent, since she had checked it a week earlier for a stretch. His blood was way too thin, and was not clotting properly. Had she looked at his blood results, she never would have done a stent placement. So, my only word of advice if you go ahead with the stent, is to make absolutely 100% sure that they've checked and re-checked his blood samples.

    Lee passed away within 2 weeks of getting the stent placed. At this point in time his liver was almost completely shut down, and he was only given a few more months to live, so his death was inevitable, however, watching your loved one bleed to death while you sit helplessly by is a nightmare that I would not wish on my worst enemy. Please reconsider.

    Sorry to be so negative, and of course you may hear stories that are totally opposite of what I've said, but that's my story......

    Chantal
  • rose20
    rose20 Member Posts: 258
    #3
    Daisylin said:

    Stent
    Hi,
    My husband Lee (ivb, mets to liver) and I were debating the same thing 5 months ago. We posted on here, and did lots of research to find out if a stent was a good idea or not. Our surgeon was adamant that he should have one, and pushed us hard to get it done. She did one stretch on him, but said that his esophagus was so narrow that she would be too scared to continue doing stretches on him. She thought he would need to be stretched about every week or two. He was at the point where he could not even swallow saliva, and was choking on it. He was 'eating' strictly by GJ tube, and very little fluids by mouth.

    We were strongly warned from our dear friends here NOT to do the stent, with lots of horror stories told, and very few recommendations to get it. (if you search this site back to around October of 2011, you may find my post and the answers we got, it could be under the poster name Leeinlondon as well, as my husband was posting here too) As we thought we had no other option, we decided to go ahead and get the stent put in. Lee was terrified of aspiration, he'd wake up in the night choking on his saliva.....

    So, he got it put in, and within 2 days, he started vomiting blood, lots of it....... we went to the hospital and he was admitted. They did an endoscopy and discovered that the stent had caused tearing in the esophagus, and he was bleeding internally. They wanted to try radiation to zap the tears closed, but during the course of a few days, waiting for the radiation set up and the weekend to be done, he continued to vomit blood and when Monday rolled around, he was too weak and incoherent, and the doctors decided that it was too late for radiation to be effective. They did do several blood transfusions, and clotting medication that I can't remember the name of, and an NG tube to empty his stomach, but to no avail.

    The surgeon told me ( I have no idea why she told me this, must have been a moment of weakness on her part) that she did not check his blood tests before the stent, since she had checked it a week earlier for a stretch. His blood was way too thin, and was not clotting properly. Had she looked at his blood results, she never would have done a stent placement. So, my only word of advice if you go ahead with the stent, is to make absolutely 100% sure that they've checked and re-checked his blood samples.

    Lee passed away within 2 weeks of getting the stent placed. At this point in time his liver was almost completely shut down, and he was only given a few more months to live, so his death was inevitable, however, watching your loved one bleed to death while you sit helplessly by is a nightmare that I would not wish on my worst enemy. Please reconsider.

    Sorry to be so negative, and of course you may hear stories that are totally opposite of what I've said, but that's my story......

    Chantal

    Agree with Chantal...
    My brother was diagnosed in August of 2010 with stage 4 inoperable.
    Immediately they placed a stent not even informing him of any other options, such as having the throat stretched.
    He has regretted it ever since.
    Most all of his pain comes from that stent.
    It has not helped him eat any better. And he still had much trouble swallowing.
    Some who have the throat stretched have had such improvement. I'm sure the stent has probably helped some but, all I know is for my brother the stent has been awful!!

    I would really look for the best stents out there if this is the way you decide to go and make sure it is a very qualified surgeon who knows what they are doing.
    Please click the link for more info. that may help you.
    Praying that you will know the right decision to make for your husband.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTQ78ExOeNg&feature=relmfu

    Chantal, my heart still breaks when reading your story. Just because your husband may be gone prayers are still being said for you.
    You both went through a horrible nightmare.
    Praying.
    rose
  • Tina Blondek
    Tina Blondek Member Posts: 1,500 Member
    #4
    Welcome
    Hi MaryPat and welcome to you and your husband. I was a caregiver for my dad, Ray. He passed from Stage IV Ec with mets to the liver in March 2010. My dad had two stents put in. One in his esophagus and one in the bile duct of his liver. He actually did well with his stents. So my thought is...what is good for one is not always good for another. It is a chance you have to take. Same thing with chemo/rads, what works for some, does not work for others. Just make sure his dr. is up on all of your husbands blood tests, etc. Make sure his dr. has a lot of experience putting in stents. The other option is a feeding tube. Hope this helps. Just wanted to give you an example of a positive stent experience.
    Tina in Va
  • dwhite0002
    dwhite0002 Member Posts: 126 Member
    #5
    I could never keep a stent
    I could never keep a stent in. It seems to me I MIGHT have gone 2 weeks without it slipping. I would reccommend a j-tube. The swelling from radiation SHOULD go down, soon, from what i recall.

    Godspeed,

    David
  • wifeofdan
    wifeofdan Member Posts: 7
    #6
    dwhite0002 said:

    I could never keep a stent
    I could never keep a stent in. It seems to me I MIGHT have gone 2 weeks without it slipping. I would reccommend a j-tube. The swelling from radiation SHOULD go down, soon, from what i recall.

    Godspeed,

    David

    Stent
    My husband had a stent put in soon after diagnosis. At that point it would take him about 45 min to drink an 8 oz Ensure. The stent was like a miracle for him. They said they coudn't guarantee they could do it, depending on where the tumor was, but it worked and he could eat virtually anything within a couple of days. The scary part for him was that the tumor shrunk from the chemo and the stent passed into his stomach and he didn't even know it. They found it while taking an xray for a blood clot. If they didn't find it, and fish it out via an endoscopy, I guess it could have caused more problems. Tough call, because of the other comments here. I'm kind of glad we didn't know about the down sides of the stent before we did it. I agree you should find someone who does them all day long if you are going to do it.
    Sue
  • unclaw2002
    unclaw2002 Member Posts: 599
    #7
    Mary Pat,
    My dad (age 78 at
    Mary Pat,

    My dad (age 78 at diagnosis and healthy other than the EC) had several stents inserted and both of them slipped into his stomach and the complications from those events almost killed him. Indeed the stent complications, in part delayed his radiation and chemo, and I believe in part allowed the cancer to spread from a stage 3 to a stage 4. Also, after having the stent he would have terrible pain when he ate and extreme sensitivity to hot and cold liquids. Sometimes he would have such terrible pains in his chest when he would try to eat.

    Another friend had a stent inserted, it adhered to the tumor and the tumor grew around the stent, could not be removed, and caused bleeding in the esophagous and eventual death. If I could get the nutrition I needed from the J or G tube I don't think I would take the risk, as a Stage IV patient, of the trauma and potential complications from a stent insertion.

    Good luck,
    Cindy
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #8
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