stent in esophagus?

[yvetten]

Hi all:

Just when I felt like things had calmed down for a while, my Mom just called me at work and said that she took my Dad to the ER because he was having trouble swallowing. My Dad had been complaining of trouble swallowing since before he was diagnosed and we kept mentioning this to the oncologist but he kept dismissing it or saying that it was a secondary concern that could be dealt with after chemo. The reason they went to the ER now, I guess, is because it has gotten a lot worse since Friday and my Mom decided that enough was enough and something had to be done about it. Since eating is so important, I agree that relieving the constriction will help (will make my Dad be able to eat properly).

Well, at the ER, they took an X-Ray and CT Scan and I guess in their infinite wisdom decided that the tumor is pressing on the esophagus and that this has caused the constriction. They want to put a stent in. It seems like it's a minor procedure with little risk, so I am not super-worried. It's just one more thing to deal with, and with my stress at work, it is to the point where I am just having a hard time dealing with this now

Why did they not catch this sooner??? I mean, my poor Dad has been telling the primary docs and the oncologists about his trouble swallowing for MONTHS now and they have done nothing up till now. Arrgh!! Damn Kaiser. I hate Kaiser!!

Oh well, off to the hospital. They are keeping him overnight and I guess they have scheduled the procedure for tomorrow. *sigh*

Anyone else had this done or had swallowing issues?

--Yvette

[wiesia]

My father had a similar problem. In his case it was the lymph nodes in between the lungs that were constricting the esophagus. His oncologist was hoping that chemo will get rid of that problem but unfortunately chemo worked on lungs but not on lymph nodes (they kept growing). I think it is a good idea to put a stent in (and it is a minor procedure) but it is also a good idea to check whether the tumor is not constricting the trachea and main bronchi. Those problems often go together.