To me, the blockage happened very suddenly. We went on vacation just before Memorial Day, and I was able to eat anything I wanted without problem. I started having fullness and bloating during Memorial Day week. I was unable to cross my arms and rest them on my stomach, and I was struggling with reflux, especially when I bent forward. On June 3, I had a CT scan to set up radiation treatments, which were supposed to start later that week. The radiation oncologist asked how my stomach felt, and I told him I felt a little full and bloated, but was still eating and drinking. Well, it turns out that my stomach was unbelievably distended with digested food. He contacted my oncologist, and we canceled radiation in order to address the problem. I had a duodenal stent installed on June 11, but as I described in the earlier post, it didn't help because it turns out the pinch point was below the stent. By the time we got back to radiation in late June, I was so uncomfortable that the radiation oncologist rethought his treatment plan. He originally was going to do 25-28 treatments, but in order to treat the blockage more aggressively, he increased the radiation and did 15 treatments. I also took capecitabine (Xeloda) on radiation days. I can tell I'm better, but I can also tell the problem isn't completely solved. We're meeting with an HPB surgeon next week to talk about options. My oncologist is suggesting a GJ (gastric-jejunum) bypass. We'll see what the surgeon says.