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I realized after I left the last post that nobody can really give me any information if I don't ask any questions. To provide more background, my cousin had a part of her lung removed approximately three years ago. She returned to work and did well until late last year when a tumor was found near her windpipe. She had 40 radiation treatments and also chemo (I don't know what kind of chemo or how much). She was holding her own pretty well until she had a reaction during her last chemo session in which she coded and had to be intubated. Since then, she has been on oxygen and within a couple of weeks after that incident she began having difficulty holding down any food. This has gone on for several months now and she has been hospitalized several times. As I indicated in the last post, she had her esophogus stretched several times and they have talked about putting a stent in. She is currently in the hospital again. The doctors don't seem to have answers as to what is causing this. Has anyone ever heard of anyone having a similar experience and if so, any suggestions. I'm sorry this is so long and thanks for any information.

Christine

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Christine: I'm so sorry for you and your cousin for what you are going thru. Sounds like she is a fighter.

I have no experience with the reactions you speak of. I also have a tumor on my windpipe. 40 x radiation with chemo and so far so good. No problems with esophagous. I don't know anything about stents, stretching...

I do know about fear, anxiety, stress and trauma cancer can bring to the lives of the patient and those who love them... As a patient, on behalf of all of us patients, thank you for loving us enough to be by our side, ask questions and be pro-active.

I wish I was more help...you will find it though.

Prayers for you and your cousin.

Vicky

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Hi. Sometimes there is damage to the esophagus from the radiation that inhibits motility. Food "sticks" on it's way down. And sometimes the food is pushed up into the throat instead of down into the stomach. This can be very painful. Over the years I've known several people who have had stents put in place to help keep the esophagus open. One person in particular comes to mind, and she is doing fine...4 years later. :wink:

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Dear Christine,

I am sorry about your cousin. She is a vey lucky gal to have you looking out for her and we are here to help you with that.

Now the only thing I can respond to is the esophagus thing. My esophaagus was damaged during radiation. Actually it took several months for me to know that. I had some VERY scary episodes with not being able to swallow food. One actually took me to the ER. Anyhow, I have had my esophagus stretched 4 times - due to radiation stricture. The doc said he wanted to keep trying to get it to stay open on its own. If not, a stent would be used. I haven't had a stretch for several months now. So not sure if it will be open permanently or not.

My point is.....this esophagus problem can be dealt with effectively and a stent is not uncommon. Sorry I cannot help you with any of the rest. I am just so sorry your cousin suffered a recurrence. Glad she appears cancer free at this time. Keep up informed.

Kasey

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Thank you for your replies--I know that my aunt and cousin will be relieved to hear that others have had this problem and have been able to address it. She will be having the stent put in tomorrow. Unfortunately she learned today that she now has a small tumor in her head and will have to begin radiation for that. This really is such an awful disease.

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I too had some pretty massive problems swallowing food after radiation treatments, due to the radiation damaging my esophogus. I finished up chemo/radiation in early June of 2003, and by late August, food was still getting "stuck" when I swallowed and pretty much everything burned going down. I finally had them put a scope down to see what was going and the doctor told me afterwards "It's really ugly in there". Basically, he told me it would take some time to heal, but if it continued they could stretch my esophogus. It took a good 6 months before the "stuck" feeling finally went away and I didn't have to chew every bite of food into mush before swallowing it :roll:

One day, I realized that I could swallow a large vitamin without burning pain in my chest from it getting stuck. What a wonderful day that was!

I hope your cousin's problem clears up quickly -- it's a scary feeling!

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She will be having the stent put in on Tuesday. They now believe her vomiting was attributable in part to lesions in her brain (an MRI revealed there are 3, not 1) and in part due to stricture in the esophogus. She began radiation for the lesions yesterday.

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