Chapter 2
Living with a Stent

Chapter 3
Living with Palliative Care

1)
Introduction
Background
Endoscopy
2)
Initial Diagnosis
3)
Telling the family
4)
First Appointment
Taking the tests
5)
Second appointment after tests
6)
Treatment -Chemotherapy and Radiation
7)
Remission
8)
Coping at Night
Coping with Fear
9)
Relationship with Doctors
Keeping Track of Medications
10)
Deciding on a Stent
Conclusion

Last Revised, 05-Nov-2002
Copyright © 2002

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Remission

        As the days passed I continued improving. But be prepared to have “off days”and remind yourself that these too will pass. It is easy to fall into despair which will slow down your recovery. I kept myself busy and stuck to a routine. Resist the temptation to skip getting washed, shaved and dressed.Keeping a routine helped me get going and made me feel better. I found the mornings the hardest and the longer I lingered in bed, the worse I felt.

        After a few weeks had passed, my eating had almost returned to normal. We decided to try to do all those things that we had put off or felt we couldn’t afford. I made contact with old friends I had put off calling, went and visited family.

        After having talked with our Dr. first, we planned a trip to London, England to visit my wife’s brothers but mainly to tour London and the surrounding countryside. We traveled by a weekly ticket valid on trains, buses and subway. We found much of London was best seen by walking and taking the subway to get home when tired. We took the trip in mid May, 1999, for two weeks and it turned out to be one of our best trips! We endured only 2 hours of rain during the whole two week visit to England!

        Unfortunately, by the time we returned from England, my difficulty in swallowing returned. We made an appointment with the Surgeon and he made arrangements to “stretch” the esophagus. This had to be repeated every few weeks. Although I found the “stretch” jobs uncomfortable, I did not find them that difficult. I faced any trip to the dentist with more apprehension!

        In spite of this, in consultation with the Dr. we planned a two week trip for September, 12th, 1999 in an RV. We drove 8500 Kilometers from Ontario, down to Texas to visit my son and his wife, then progressed along the gulf of Mexico down to the Florida Keys. We then returned home back up the eastern seaboard to Ontario. There were times I was concerned that we would have to “race” home to have another “stretch job”, but we were able to do the complete trip and enjoyed ourselves immensely! It is important to realize that your life has not ended by having EC but is just another problem to be worked around and some great activities are still possible.

        We found that planning something to look forward to was important, even if it was a short visit to friends or a trip, helped my morale. The last thing I wanted to happen was to feel I was just sitting around waiting to die. Remember even if you are only receiving palliative care, you are not dying of cancer but living with cancer, as it is possible that you could die of the flu or some other unrelated cause.

        This brings me to another point for feeling better. I am a born and bred “couch potato” and without prodding would remain so. Getting exercise like walking or swimming made me feel better both physically and mentally and we try to include it in our routine. In the cold weather I have missed my walks and noticed that I did not feel as well. As a result we go to the local malls to walk for exercise, but be aware it can prove costly if you end up shopping! Although exercise proves to be a big help, I soon learned to heed my body and take a nap as soon as I realized I was getting tired. Getting too tired not only makes me feel worse but also starts me worrying about bridges that I have not come to yet! Taking naps when I need them helps me both physically and mentally.
 
 

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