Tired easily, no energy and just diagnosed, is this normal?
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Isellure
It’s great to hear that you MIL is doing so well with her stents. I know that with my mum she was very ill when her stent blocked, and the difference is just amazing when all is working well. My mum only managed 2.5 months for the first stent but she is on 5 months for this one and at the moment still going strong !
Best wishes to you and your family
JemimaIsellure…..clogged stents can make a person really ill. Your MIL should feel tons better within the next few days. I am glad to hear that everything worked out fine.
Best wishes,
MarionIsellure, it sounds like your MIL is doing fine. Yes, the plastic stents seem to need replacing every 3 months or so. I would say you are all doing a splendid job. Wishing you continued success on this journey, that no one wants to take!
Update on my MIL, since the stent on Aug 29th she has felt great up until this week. Went to the dr and they replaced her stent today. i hope and pray this stent takes her right back to the same place as the aug 29th one. dr doesnt want to use metal just plastic. It seems so often if it’s replaced every 2.5 months, but that’s what i am seeing on here as average. We are so fortunate she has no other symptoms of this awful cancer! She’s having no treatment, so please keep her and our family in your prayers.
UPDATE: We are over a month now since we’ve had the internal drain put in and what a great month! My MIL is now back to her daily routines and fun, playing bridge, going to the movies, out to eat, driving around and leaving to go to her daughters for 2 weeks. She’s met with the dr’s again and shes choosing no chemo and no radiation. I hope she feels this way just as long as she can. She’s obviously found a calm within the storm. Thank you all for this discussion board, it’s answered so many of our concerns.
“Wht a difference a Day Makes”, wonderful old song and it certainly pertains to your MIL. Just got to love the good news!
Great Update on My MIL. She had a plastic stent put in on Monday and some fluids!!! We have a new woman in the house! On Sunday evening she wasn’t even able to lift her head off the pillow. Monday she got “rehydrated” and a plastic stent. WOW what a difference from rehydration. She came home, walked in the house, up the stairs around the house, got ready for bed all on her on. What a difference and we are so greatful! She’s in no pain, not sick and today she tells us she is even getting around the house and sitting on the porch for the second day in a row. We are on cloud 9 for her!
Thank you mhelton! My MIL cant get out of the bed except to go to the bathroom and then it’s a major ordeal for her. This has happened in just a few short weeks – since diagnosis. She is just exhausted to go 20 feet and back. She can’t even talk alot, it just wears her out. She’s completely bed ridden all of a sudden, she cant even walk to the kitchen. She has no pain, no swelling, no problem breathing, nothing other than total fatigue. Hoping for a miracle with the stent like you seem to have had. Thank you for the encouraging words. I’m also happy to see within two weeks you were able to see the difference, I am hoping the same for us. Mhelton stay strong!
I think if you ask Mayo to internalize the bag it will make a huge difference. this is the first thing Mayo in MN did with my 66 yr old mom when we went for a second opinion. It made a world of difference as what I think much of what you are discussing ( tired, no energy) is resulting from depression and not being as mobile because she has this bag hanging off her side.. psychological!!!!
You are in the best hands at any of the Mayo locations as CC is their expertise. I wish your mother in law the best.
AshleyI just had the stent put in two weeks ago and boy did it make a difference. I was tired all the time and moving around made me tireder. Now I see and feel a big difference , much more energy and I want to do more. I eat more also. I am still tired at times but unlike most of what I hear I am the opposite and do not sleep at night well. Like your mother-in=law I also chose to do this on my terms. I feel stronger this way and feel like I have some control still of my life.
Hi Isellure,
Thank you for giving us an update on your MIL. And I will keep my fingers crossed for a successful placing of your mums stent next week. Hopefully once this is done, your MIL will start to feel better once the stent starts working and the bile can then be drained. I know that my dad started to feel a lot better once he had his stent inserted and it started working.
As to fluid intake, when my dad was in the hospital his doctors kept on at him to keep drinking the water and this was something that I also did when dad got home as he wasn’t drinking enough. I got to the point when instead of me asking if dad wanted a drink, I would just give him one. My dad also used to get tired very easily and would take a lot of naps during the day and this was something that he never did before he was diagnosed. When he did go out in the morning to the shops etc, he had to take it very easy and would usually go back to bed afterwards.
I know that this is all very hard to deal with, we have all been there. But please know that we are all here for you and know what you are going through. So come back here as much as you want and we will all help if we can.
My best wishes to you and your mother in law,
Gavin
Isellure…Drinking large amounts of fluids should keep your mother in-law hydrated. My husband used to sip on fluids believing that he was consuming large amounts when in reality it was less than half of what he should have been drinking. Similar to your mother in-law my husband preferred to drink water. I mad sure that he drank at least one liter per day. This helped him feel better. I am not a physician therefore; anything I pass on to you should be confirmed by the doctor. However, I would like to address some of your questions: The purpose of the stent is to allow for proper bile drainage. Bile aids in the digestion of fats and lipids and when that process is disturbed by blockage for example, people tend to feel ill. Rarely have we seen a patient contact hospice on their behalf. That coupled with the private doctor
First let me say a huge thank you for all the information. Without this we wouldn’t really know if some of my mother in laws symptoms were typical or odd. She’s decided against any type of surgery and is only willing to do the stent–absolutely nothing else. She goes in next Wed at Mayo/Jacksonville for that. She’s been to the hospital with dehydration and thankfully my husband is at her house this week. He says she’s not drinking enough. Does having the external drain have anything to do with the dehydration? When she has the stent put in will this help with the dehydration? I know she needs to drink more and she’s kinda stubborn right now with only wanting water. We are trying different kinds of gatorade, etc. this week to see if we can find something she likes…will warm chicken broth help any?
She had been taking in more fat in her diet (more than she normally ate, which was minimal anyway) and feels that the more fat she was intaking was making her feel bad. Could be true, is anyone else having this symptom?
She was diagnosed about 5 weeks ago and she in the bed pretty much all day and night now. Today she was up for only about 20 minutes other than to eat. I am sure some is depressing and the other she says she is just plain worn out. Walking from her bed to the kitchen (40 feet) and sitting up 20 minutes she needs to go to bed and take a nap (2-4 hours long). Is this typical of the cancer just taking a toll on her?
I’m concerned about where she is in the cancer stage. She went to the dr monday without anyone knowing, it was the appointment where we would have found out just kinda where we were in this bile duct cancer stage. We don’t know if she’s stage 1 or 4. Dr’s have said she has anywhere from now to maybe 6 months, maybe a year at most. She called hospice in and they showed up today to talk with her about an IV for liquids for the dehydration. She says she definitely feels better after the 6 hour IV, so we are happy she at least is wanting this.
We just don’t know what to do at this point and kinda feel like we are in the dark. What do we look for as signs of the cancer progressing?
Again, thank you all for the information. My mother-in-law was one of the most outgoing, positive, focused and enjoying life women I know…and then this diagnosis. What’s happening is our biggest question.
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