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What was your experience immediately following RT/chemo?

Posted by Lynn @cometsmom, Jun 14 7:26am

My husband Jeff completed 6 weeks of RT/chemo on Friday. He was told the first few weeks could be the most difficult of all and so far, things have been pretty rough. He was not able to eat anything at all for the last 4 days and yesterday couldn't even get Ensure to go down. He was admitted to the hospital and the plan is to try an endoscopy this morning. The GI doctor is not sure they'll be able to pass the scope. He's getting the feeding tube back in. He said it could be inflammation from the radiation or tumor obstructing. Jeff has lost 10 pounds in the past week and looks awful, gray and exhausted. He's sleeping almost all of the time. I'm anxiously awaiting the results. Has anyone had a similar experience after completing treatment? What was the outcome? Thanks for your input.

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relicmeister | @rselicmeister | Jun 15 6:22pm

Here’s hoping the benefits of the treatment make the suffering worthwhile and that too shall improve soon

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Lynn | @cometsmom | Jun 16 6:22am

Here's the update: The endoscopy was done and showed severe radiation esophagitis with a tight stricture that the scope could not be passed through, but the dr could not see any residual tumor (great news). There was quite a lot of bleeding, so the dr was not able to proceed any further. Jeff will see a thoracic surgeon who will do a procedure called forceful dilation to try and break up the stricture so that solid food can pass. We will get the logistics of this Monday and hopefully it can be done soon. He is swallowing some liquids now, and was placed on a full liquid puréed diet in the meantime. No feeding tube was placed yet but will be necessary if this procedure is unsuccessful. We are praying for success! I don't know if the esophagitis has to improve some before the procedure can be done but it seems to me he can't wait too much longer. Puréed liquids only go so far in providing nutrition...he has lost 15 lbs over the last month.

He was discharged home yesterday and is taking fluids ok. Happy to be home and looking better after all the hydration he was given.

Anxiously awaiting the visit to the surgeon and subsequent procedure. I will post again as we know more. Thanks for the prayers, we will take every one.

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treh00jamc | @treh00jamc | Jun 16 2:39pm

Try hyoscyamine first ( it helped my spasms of my esophagus which also made me throw up every time I drank or ate any amount of anything), then I tried phenergan suppositories also for the nausea. Worked great! This went on about 2 weeks after radiation/chemo then subsided as the radiation calmed down. No one in my GI office would do an endoscopy because after radiation the surface is like ground meat and very fragile. They said it was very easy to perforate the esophagus with the endoscope. Ended up I didn't need it. I'm a little over one month since the end of my treatments and I'm eating most of what I want just smaller amounts. Still have some coughing occasionally which is also normal. My surgery is slated for July 16.

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1 reply
Lynn | @cometsmom | Jun 16 4:02pm

Thanks for your reply. Good suggestions, especially the phenergan suppositories. I'll ask our dr about it.

Best of luck to you with your surgery

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earnest | @earnest | Jun 16 5:38pm
In reply to @treh00jamc "Try hyoscyamine first ( it helped my spasms of my esophagus which also made me throw..." + (show)
@treh00jamc

Try hyoscyamine first ( it helped my spasms of my esophagus which also made me throw up every time I drank or ate any amount of anything), then I tried phenergan suppositories also for the nausea. Worked great! This went on about 2 weeks after radiation/chemo then subsided as the radiation calmed down. No one in my GI office would do an endoscopy because after radiation the surface is like ground meat and very fragile. They said it was very easy to perforate the esophagus with the endoscope. Ended up I didn't need it. I'm a little over one month since the end of my treatments and I'm eating most of what I want just smaller amounts. Still have some coughing occasionally which is also normal. My surgery is slated for July 16.

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Thank you treh00. I'm getting close to the end of my treatments and was wondering if and when I'll be able to eat something...ANYTHING again. Your story is encouraging. I was looking for someone who's gone through exactly what you have, and there you are. I'm praying that two weeks after my treatments I'll be able to eat again, even small portions. Right now nothing tastes good, I can't stand Boost, and I've lost over 30 lbs. Heck, I couldn't afford that, I'm 6 ft tall and weigh 130 lbs. Look worse than the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz. So here's to hoping my story will be comparable to yours and I will be able to eat soon.

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Lynn | @cometsmom | Jun 17 4:36am

Earnest, so sorry for what you are going through. How many more weeks of treatment do you have? I'm concerned about your weight...at 6' tall. I'd encourage you to talk to your doctors about other measures that can be taken regarding the weight loss. All prayers and best wishes to you ❤️

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relicmeister | @rselicmeister | Jun 17 5:54pm

Just a brief update- port was implanted today and I see oncologist Wednesday at which time (after finding out where I stand stage and type wise as well as treatment plan) I will ask if a stent is a possibility and if not whether a feeding tube is indicated as I’m probably only getting 500 calories-day and I’m only about to begin treatments. Big day Wednesday is.

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