dad cant swallow or eat

aybad
  • By aybad · September 13, 2012 at 7:10 am · 6 replies
  • In Small cell lung cancer - General
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hi
my dad in law has sclc - he was diagnosed with it being in lung and nodes restricted to chest and same side as tumour. after chemo and radiation the tumour in the lung was totally inactive. however a year later the node in chest is active- he did a course of chemo with no change and then the drs said they were going to give him a high dose of radiation- about a week and a half into radiotherapy he couldnt eat or swallow. drs said its oesophoegitis- he was fed through a tube for a week with no pain relief. he has been taking morphine derivitive tablets and its goin to be almost 6 weeks now since radiation - even though he is taking medication- but thers is no huge difference. can anyone help please?

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6 replies   

mamanolte

I had a similar experience except I didn't have the tube. Six weeks after finishing tx I was still in a lot of pain. They finally used an endoscope to see what was going on. It turned out I have scar tissue (strictures) from the radiation. They dialated my esophagus and I had immediate relief. You may want to see a gastroenterologist to help with this.
Cheryll

snaeve

My husband had the same thing. Ended in hospital for dehydration. They did a scope and his esophagus was almost closed so they stretched it and he also had immediate relief. A week later they did a ct scan and saw air in the chest and found they had perferated his esophagus when they stretched it. They called us to get him to the emergency room right away and they said they may need to crack his chest to fix the perferated esophagus and I thought he is not strong enough to deal with all this but thank god his body was healing it self, so they just watched it and he has been eating and drinking ever since. They said he may have to go back to have it opened more but so far so good. They said its probably from the radiation that his esophagus closed up. Good luck .

aybad

Thank you guys so much. I appreciate it. Its been a trying time and your responses have given me some direction. Dad says he feels a bit of relief when he breaks wind but other thn that he has been in so much he doesn't eat much. He is going to see the gastro enterologist. Will keep you posted.

ackack

I, too, was in extreme pain 6 weeks after radiation and could barely eat or drink. I had to have 5 procedures where they dialated my esophagus (scraped it each time a small amount so they wouldn't tear esophagus). I can now swallow without any pain. Unfortunately though, I have acid reflux and am taking Nexium daily which is not doing much to relieve discomfort.

mamanolte
  • By mamanolte
  • Reply 3372594 · In reply to 3372310 by ackack
  • September 13, 2012 at 4:08 pm
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Go see a gastroenterologist. They will be able to prescribe rxs that will help the GERD.

Cheryll

aybad

Was the feeling of air lock and the need to burp else more pain a common feeling? I really do appreciate all the help. His GE has booked him for an endoscope in 10 days as he finishes chemo today

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