How long for stent to work?
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Andie,
Glad to hear that your dad is no longer itching, and yes that is a good sign. My dad had the itching really badly and the relief he felt when it stopped did him a world of good!
Best wishes,
Gavin
Katja,
You are right. The treatment at St James in Leeds is second to none. I was diagnosed with bile duct cancer last year, at the ampullar of vater, where the bile duct and pancreatic ducts meet the duodenum.
I had a whipples operation at St James. Mr Menon was the surgeon. And get this, he did the operation by keyhole surgery. 12-hour operation.
Mr Menon is an absolute darling. The most kind and caring doctor I have ever met. Exceptionally warm man. Kudos to him. All the medical staff were in awe of his surgical skills. He apparently was the first surgeon in the UK to perform whipples by keyhole. Amazing man. The daughter of a friend in my support group is godmother to Professor Lodges children. St James Bexley Wing is the best cancer facility in Europe so I have been told.
Katja wrote:I’ve just remembered your earlier post about other surgeons/oncologists. We could not fault the treatment at St James in Leeds. Prof Lodge is (I believe) the head of the HPB (Hepatico-Pancreatic-Biliary or something…) team and mainly does liver transplants. Mr Menon and Mr Smith both come really highly recommended for bile duct/pancreatic surgery. Mr Menon’s whipple on my dad has been absolutely perfect so far.My Dads CC is extrahepatic and inoperable due to the position, I think the specialist mentioned artery/veins? So Chemo is his only option. 2 weeks ago we were told they couldn’t do any treatment by his first hospital but the QE Bham have said that they can offer Chemo, a few years compared to months is everything to us and hopefully other treatments may become available within those months.
Gavin, My Dad isn’t itching anymore so I take that as a good sign.
Best wishes and good luck to you both and your families
Hi Andie,
In my dads case, it also took quite a while for his jaundice to clear up and for his skin and eyes to get back to their natural colour. He also had the itching, badly, and this cleared up long before the skin and eyes got back to normal. Glad to hear that your dad has no pain today and that he is eating and drinking well.
Best wishes,
Gavin
Thanks Andie, I really hope so too.
The funny thing about my dad’s jaundice was that for quite a while it actually suited him – people used to ask if he’d been on holiday. Obviously we all prefer him much paler!
I’ve just remembered your earlier post about other surgeons/oncologists. We could not fault the treatment at St James in Leeds. Prof Lodge is (I believe) the head of the HPB (Hepatico-Pancreatic-Biliary or something…) team and mainly does liver transplants. Mr Menon and Mr Smith both come really highly recommended for bile duct/pancreatic surgery. Mr Menon’s whipple on my dad has been absolutely perfect so far.
Thank you for all your comments, I have passed them onto my Mom and I think she feels a bit better now knowing other people out there have been jaundiced for a while too. I think she was expecting him to turn back white over night. Once his eyes return white I think she will be happier.
He is in no pain today from having his external drain out and he is eating and drinking lots.
Lainy, my Mom has said the same, yellow is not my Dads colour
Katja, I have read your other posts, congratulations on the birth of your son and I hope your Dad is still doing well with his Chemo. My son was born when my Dad had colon cancer 9 years ago, he kicked that cancer into touch and im sure it was down to having a new grandchild to see grow up, I’m sure both our dads are fighters and will kick this cancer too!
Hi Andie
My dad’s numbers were the same as yours and it’s true – it took ages to lose his yellow tinge. One doc said it might take the same amount of time to go as it took to accumulate – about 6 weeks in my dad’s case.As Kris says, drinking LOADS of water is vital as this is the only way to flush it out.
I hope that he continues with his good appetite.
KateHi Andie. It could take longer than even a couple of weeks. When Teddy totally jaundiced, the eyes cleared first then the rest of his body but the face took a longer time. There are still times I think he looks a tad jaundiced and its been 4 1/2 years, but he is not. I will take the color as long as everything else is ok. I told him when he first jaundiced that I don’t like him in yellow, it’s not his color.
Dad is finally out after 5 weeks in hospital. He had a slight blip with his bile level which went from 276 to 277 the next day but then it fell to 258 and is now 218. My Mom is upset that he still looks very yellow and also his eyes are still yellow. I think that it has hit her that my dad is ill now that he is at home.
I’ve told my mom that it will probably take a few weks for his colour to go back to normal, can anyone tell me how long on average it takes for the eyes to return to white?
DianneH wrote:Is the new stent metal? I don’t recall you mentioning if it’s plastic or metal.Dianne
My Dad has had a metal one fitted. His first one was metal too, so he now has two. He also had an external drain Monday after they fitted his stent but they have capped it off now. He is feeling fine in himself, no pain, no itching, a good appetitie which he has never lost. We need his levels to fall to 50 so Chemo can start. 3 weeks ago it was 600, Sunday it was in the 400s and on the Tuesday it was 276 but I think it has slowed down completely now. Hopefully the Xray will give us some answers tomorrow.
Is the new stent metal? I don’t recall you mentioning if it’s plastic or metal.
Could be just that the stent has slipped out of place. That’s what happened with my Dad’s last “plastic stent”. They are no where near as good as the metal.
It will be interesting to see how our Dad’s compare with their stents. My Dad’s tumour has grown, almost doubled in size, but they did not say the stent was the cause of it pushed out.
Our GI told us that body movement can cause them to become out of place. He also said it’s possible that if they do not dilate the tissue enough, to really get it up in there, it will wiggle back out on it’s own too.
Let us know how it goes.
All the best to you and your Dad.
Dianne
We seem to be going one step further two steps back!!! Doctors were initially pleased with how Dads stent was working but it has now stopped working. He has got to go down tomorrow for an x-ray so they can see why. Do you think his cancer could have spread this fast since Monday to block the stents already? This happened last time they stopped working after a few days.
Hi Andie,
Glad to hear that the docs are happy with how your dads stent is working so far, lets hope that continues. My dad spent the best part of 7 weeks in the hospital with his diagnosis and PDT treatment and he also lost weight. Like you and your dad, we put this down to lots of nil by mouth procedures and hospital food. Although the food at Ninewells was okay, it was not the same as home cooking. Although my dad did always look forward to getting back to ward after these procedures as he knew the nurses there would always make toast for him, always thinking with his stomach!
Great to hear that your dad has his spring back in his step now after being told he will get chemo, especially after originally being told no treatment. I know that for us, we felt much better after my dads diagnosis once his PDT treatment started and dads fightback begun. A rollercoaster ride of emotions along the way.
Best wishes to you and your dad,
Gavin
Thank you all for your kind words. I really don’t know what I’d have done without this forum the last few weeks.
Just got back from visiting Dad, Doctors are pleased with his stent so far. They have had one and half bags of bile from his external drain but have now capped it off. He is still hungry and in no pain. He has been in hospital nearly 5 weeks now undergoing different tests and he has lost 10lbs in weight but i think this is down to being nil by mouth for lots of cancelled procedures!! and also being told there was no treatment available and he only had months left added to his stress, though it didn’t effect his appetite!. He was never going to give up his fight but now he has been told he will be offered Chemo he has got his spring back in his step which is great to see.
Thank you all again
Andie – they told my sister her bili had to be down to 50 before chemo but when they saw it was dropping steadily (after they got the stents in the best place – I’ve just mentioned her stents on an earlier post of yours before I saw this one) they actually started her chemo before it hit 50.
I agree with the others that a healthy desire to eat & being generally pain free are reassuring signs; that’s certainly my experience with my sister.
My best to you & your dad.
Julia
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