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

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Deciding on a Stent

        The doctor pointed out courses of action that were available to me.
        Up to this time I enjoyed a high quality of life and my wife and I had a very good year. But, by October, 1999, it was evident that I would have to have dilations done at ever shorter intervals. This would increasingly degrade my quality of life and to continue having the dilations carried at shorter intervals would have had increasing risk associated with it. One option was to have a flexible “stent” inserted that would hold the esophagus open to allow me to eat. The insertion of a stent carries with it risks of its own, and the pros and cons of having a stent inserted were discussed at length with the surgeon and my wife. The use of a stent is dependent on the patient’s condition, the state of the cancer, and the feeling of both the patient and his wife. After a number of consultations with the surgeon and many discussions with my wife, we came to the decision to have a stent inserted. The use of a stent is not an option for all patients.

        My wife and I had already decided that if the insertion of a stent became a reasonable option, I would have it done. We discussed at length the merits of having a stent inserted. Having a stent has a profound effect on your family life because it has an effect on all aspects of your daily living.

        One point to remember is that the insertion of a flexible stent is permanent and is not reversible.

        You will get some advice on the do’s and don’ts of having a stent. Most of the “rules” exist for the simple fact that the opening between the esophagus and the stomach is kept open by the stent, thus allowing the stomach’s contents to move into the esophagus and into your throat and lungs if your stomach is higher than your throat. The other “rules” are to do with eating. A problem can arise if food gets firmly lodged in the stent as it must be removed by an Endoscopy. The rules are simple but have many ramifications in daily living that are not always obvious at first.

        If you have a stent, the throat must be kept higher than the stomach, so laying flat to sleep is not an option and you must sleep at an angle of about 45 degrees or more. As an experiment, before the stent was inserted, I tried to sleep on a pile of pillows on a normal bed. No arrangement of pillows proved to work for me as I invariably
slipped off the pillows and woke up flat on the bed. This could have proved disastrous if I had had a stent in at that time.

        As our bed was about 35 years old at that time and we were thinking about buying a new one, we opted for an electric bed that would be helpful if or when I had a stent inserted. We opted for two single beds that were attached together. We each had our own remote for raising or lowering the head or foot of the bed independently for each side. The lower bedding is separate for each mattress and the top sheets and blankets cover both sides, making it into a king-size bed. As a result we had been using the new bed for a few months before the stent was inserted. Both my wife and I did not relish having separate beds and as a result we have a wall to wall bed. (The “dust bunnies” under it can grow to monstrous size!!)
 
 

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