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Looking for others' experiences with Esophageal Cancer treatments
Esophageal Cancer | Last Active: Sep 9, 2023 | Replies (98)Comment receiving replies
Love your story... although I suppose both you and I would prefer not to have EC whatsoever. At stage 3, I was able to make it to surgery at age 61, since I had no other serious comorbidities. But your great responses to your treatments put you where you are... hanging tough, still alive, and hopefully with some good QoLife.
But let me get something straight... when you talk of the Coca-Cola use... that is to clear an obstruction in your actual esophagus? Over a 30 minute period for example? So this is not a G or J tube clog you're talking about? Holy cow, that must be some major unpleasant experience!! I used Coke once to unclog my J tube.
Because I've been there myself... but not to the extent you have. As my first line treatments were starting, I too could not swallow even a tiny sip of water, was 100% relying on my J tube to live. But this was only for 2 to 3 weeks as my CROSS protocol treatments opened up my throat enough to allow me to resume eating and drinking some. But yeah... some nasty miserable times back over 3 years ago. I sure feel for ya! I'm now just past 3 years post-op... so hanging in there.
Keep it up! The EC journeys can sure suck a tad! The post-op part of the journey is a tad nasty as well... but doable. Just very sloooow.
Be well.
Gary
Replies to "Love your story... although I suppose both you and I would prefer not to have EC..."
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Gary
To say that my disease has been challenging is a profound understatement. Thus far, when I've experienced food bolus induced impactions and obstruction of my esophagus, I've been able to successfully resove them with the use of cola. Again, these are small bolus impactions. The length of time it may take to soften and resolve varies dependent upon the size and composition of the impacted bolus. The larger the bolus of food ingested will produce more problematic impactions that may not respond to the cola treatment. However, if one takes smal bites of well diced foods, chews them thoroughly and takes a sip of liquid and swallows, assuming they have a dilation of at least 10 mm, the food bolus should pass freely. If you feel that it's stuck, stop eating and drink a bit of liquid and wait to see if it passses. You may the resume eating. People should avoid most breads, crackers, bisquits and lage pieces of meat. Soft foods like pasta, eggs or some breakfast cereals with milk are great starters. You can work your way up the menu fom there.
At times when become impacted with a food bolus I've generally gotten relief within 10 minutes. The longest it's taken is about 60 minutes. I attribute that to a foolish attempt to enjoy a bit of grilled pork tenderloin.
My G-tube is used both for feedings and drugs/supplement administration. I've posted on tips for dealing with problematic G-tube clogs. Essentially, the first approach is to infuse a bit of warm or room temp water or saline with a cath tip syringe and do a gentle push-pull agitation. This generally will work on med/supplement clogs if there aren't a lot of excipients or binders in the slurry that was infused. If the clog is not cleared with this approach, remove the fluid above the clog and infuse the cola. At times it may help to gently roll, compress and milk the tube over the site of the obstruction to enhance its dissolution. If that doesn't work, then you try a variety of flexible probes/snakes to physically dislodge the clog. Patience is required as this can be a tedious and at times lengthy process.
If you haven't been able to clear the blockage either in your esophagus or G- tube in >2-3 hrs, I would suggest that you go to an ER for further evaluation and assistance. The tube may need to be replaced and the impactions may need to be cleared via endoscopic procedures.
Dave