1. < Esophageal Cancer

Have begun to eat again. Need explanation of symptoms.

Posted by relicmeister @rselicmeister, Oct 7 3:15am

I have stage 4 esophageal cancer which has spread. It is the adenocarcinoma type. I couldn’t eat anything or take fluids for 6-8 weeks and have been getting nutrients via PEG tube. I will soon have my 7th of 12 chemo treatments. About late September tumor shrinkage allowed my to resume eating/ drinking by mouth. This was absolutely wonderful but my start to eating was slow and cautious, and nausea kept my appetite small.
As a little time went by, I noticed that while I didn’t feel a lot of constriction, I noticed a burning - aching as the swallowed food passed through to my stomach. It seemed to emanate from the back and I wondered if the pain was coming from my esophagus or from the adjacent spinal tumor. I wondered if perhaps the tumor area of the esophagus was simply “raw” and sensitive to the passing food because of the chemo. The assistant to my oncologist thought it was due to reflux through a lower sphincter that got lazy from not being used for so long. Everything about my recent PETscan was good so I’m only talking about symptoms because it does take the pleasure out of the little eating I do. It’s a bearable but unpleasant feeling that I’ll cope with if necessary. So the bottom line here is to see if anyone else has experienced this and what steps were taken to address the problem? I do take a PPI and just began taking something ( my wife manages my meds so I didn’t notice the drug name ) a medication to calm chemo induced hiccups that were causing minor aspiration which I have to avoid because it might be responsible for the double pneumonia I’m presently recovering from.
I look forward to comments from anyone with similar experience.

Thanks, relicmeister Bob

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mrgvw | @mrgvw | Oct 7 7:43am

It's often hard to discern just what is what when we're going thru active chemo and/or radiation and/or immunotherapy.... and distinguishing the side effects from what may be caused by the cancer itself... as well as any meds we're taking. If on antibiotics, they can also wreak havoc with our digestive tracts.

Typically we take Zofran, Reglan, and for hiccups I seem to recall taking Baclofen. But I'd start taking it the day before my treatments and then also take it the day of my treatments and maybe the day after as well (can't remember the dosage... 1 or 2 pills a day?). But it seemed to do the trick to keep my hiccups at bay. I used to have 5 to 10 hour bouts of hiccups... nasty because they beat the crap out of you!

Eating is nice once it returns some... but being able to taste is what makes it enjoyable... and that's a tall order while on chemo (for most of us). But if you can swallow some food and drink... and keep it down... that is what is most important because you need the calories and hydration. It doesn't matter if everything tastes like cardboard... eat anyway!! But since you have a feeding tube to lean on... use that as much as needed... it is a tool to keep you alive and in the battle. I had my J tube for 8 months. Next Zoom call is Wednesday, 6pm Eastern.

Gary

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1 reply
relicmeister | @rselicmeister | Oct 7 11:55am
In reply to @mrgvw "It's often hard to discern just what is what when we're going thru active chemo and/or..." + (show)
@mrgvw

It's often hard to discern just what is what when we're going thru active chemo and/or radiation and/or immunotherapy.... and distinguishing the side effects from what may be caused by the cancer itself... as well as any meds we're taking. If on antibiotics, they can also wreak havoc with our digestive tracts.

Typically we take Zofran, Reglan, and for hiccups I seem to recall taking Baclofen. But I'd start taking it the day before my treatments and then also take it the day of my treatments and maybe the day after as well (can't remember the dosage... 1 or 2 pills a day?). But it seemed to do the trick to keep my hiccups at bay. I used to have 5 to 10 hour bouts of hiccups... nasty because they beat the crap out of you!

Eating is nice once it returns some... but being able to taste is what makes it enjoyable... and that's a tall order while on chemo (for most of us). But if you can swallow some food and drink... and keep it down... that is what is most important because you need the calories and hydration. It doesn't matter if everything tastes like cardboard... eat anyway!! But since you have a feeding tube to lean on... use that as much as needed... it is a tool to keep you alive and in the battle. I had my J tube for 8 months. Next Zoom call is Wednesday, 6pm Eastern.

Gary

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Thanks Gary. I will do my best to get onto the zoom meeting. This Fri. To Sun. My wife Jeanne and. I are meeting in western PA at a hotel to see my first grandchild ( grandson) for the first. Hopefully, my ex wife and my 3 grown children will meet with us there for dinner. She and all 3 of the children from my first marriage live in the Cleveland burbs, while my present wife Jeanne and I live on the boundary between the Poconos and New Jersey. It’s a blessing that present wife and I are close to ex wife for real, which is a great blessing for my children to have that vs estrangement which is harmful. So I won’t be able to zoom this coming Sunday either, but next? I have two appointments today - gastroenterologist about the hiccups, post swallow burning and aspiration issues which might be root cause of my double pneumonia. Then I have an echocardiogram to see if Keytruda is hurting my heart , all for tomorrow’s appointment with oncologist with possible treatment. Since last chemo I’ve lost all taste and have tongue and mouth sores. Feels like I gargled with hot sauce, lol. Can’t work while on oxygen, and I can’t go without oxygen. O2 saturation is 79-84 at rest without oxygen. I fear that heart or lung damage is why it’s staying so low. However , I remain positive and faithful throughout- this is just a bump in the road.
Cheers everyone, Bob

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