Chapter 2
Living with a Stent

Chapter 3
Living with Palliative Care

Sections

1)
Introduction
2)
Background
3)
Deciding on a Stent
4)
Having the Stent Inserted
5)
Pain
Eating again!
6)
Some Limitations and Hints
7)
Conclusion

Last Revised, 05-Nov-2002
Copyright © 2002

Click on sections on sidebar for Chapter 2

Conclusion

        The stent has given me more than four months of being able to eat normal foods, including hot Thai foods in restaurants. Lately, since late February, 2000, I have been having some difficulty eating solid foods. Tests show that the stent is clear and the stomach is in reasonable shape so I should have some more time with a good quality of life available yet.

        At this point I will conclude my story of living with a stent as there is little more that I can add. I am sure that each of you will face different problems, will overcome them and will find other solutions for some of the problems I faced.

        The realization that the EC is still advancing, and options open to my wife and I are becoming limited, has begun to force us to face the realities ahead. My fear is that I will not be able to face the trials ahead and lose my dignity and emotional control. I have to believe that there will be help for my wife and I to face the trials that lay ahead and to allow us to spend our final time together with some dignity and relative freedom from pain and fear.

        If possible and circumstances allow, I would like to write of our experience with care at home, the part played by palliative care, the place faith has in helping us over the hard parts, and the trials and benefits of being treated at home rather than in the hospital.

        Again, I wish you all the best of luck and leave you with the hope that you have as a good quality of life as I have had. I hope that my story has been of some help to you. I would like to thank all the health care workers and doctors that have been so caring and have done all those things that have allowed me to have the quality of life that I have enjoyed and still enjoy at this time.

        I also hope that many of you have had the good fortune to have a spouse that has been as supportive and loving as my wife has been. Without her, it is unlikely that this paper would have been written, nor would it be likely that I would be here to write it! I would like to thank her and the rest of my family and friends that have been so supportive over the last two years.
 
 

Contact
livingwithec@yahoo.com

Note: This email address is only occasionally checked, and due to volume, I am unable to respond to all messages. Nevertheless, feel free to send your thoughts, experiences, or comments.