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Hi Peggy,
Sorry to hear this latest news about your brother. My dad had a metal stent as well and he had an incident once where his jaundice came back for a bit and he felt really bad at the same time as well. Went to see his gp and then his GI specialist and as quickly as the jaundice reappeared, it cleared up and disappeared just equally quickly. They couldn’t say why for sure it happened but it did and he felt great again. So hoping that this will happen for your brother as well and please let us know how things go for him.
Hugs,
Gavin
Peggy….Rather than being occluded (blocked) the metal stents may have shifted. We have seen this happen quite often on this site. Fingers are crossed for everything to be sorted out by next Monday.
Hugs
MarionOh, dear Peggy I am so very sorry to hear this. Teddy used to get blood infections from his stents like 2 X a year. IF your brother gets chills and fever he needs to get to Emergency right away. Even if he can get to Mayo ER as the fever and chills usually mean infection. Teddy’s ONC told him anything over 100o go to ER. They would put him immediately on Levaquin IV and he would feel better already the next day. Sure sounds like a sent exchange is needed but I am not a Doc. Best of luck and please let us know what happens.
Hi all,
I have another update on my brother. He was finally able to start the chemo on August 13th. He has had very little in the way of side effects from the chemo and actually said recently that he felt the best he has felt since this whole ordeal started in May. He had a CT scan done recently and got the results two weeks ago and they were better than hoped for! There were no new growths, the largest tumor in his liver had actually shrunk a tiny bit and his labs were the best they’ve been since May. We were all flying high! Then, for those of you who have referred to this cancer as a roller coaster, last week we were jolted back to reality a bit, when his labs were all over the place. Still good enough to do chemo, but not great. Monday he started to vomit and he thought it was just from the chemo. (He tends to do well from chemo Tuesday until about Sunday, then vomits a couple of times and is ok again.) Apparently it wasn’t, as he started to feel worse and worse and when he had his labs done on Tuesday, they were not good, and he is jaundiced again.His doctor called the surgeon at Mayo who did his latest ERCP and double metal stent replacement there and he is on vacation. (Of course!) But, he has had so many troubles with the ERCPs that the oncologist said that it is worth waiting until next Monday to have that doc do it again. (He could have someone else at Mayo do it this Friday, but everyone decided that a couple of days won’t make a difference.) To say he is discouraged is an understatement. He was told during the summer that these metal stents should last about 9 months and then the options aren’t great. They can put plastic ones inside the metal ones, but that it is only a short term solution. The metal stents only worked for about 2 months. I told him to monitor his temp, etc. as I’m concerned that things could get out of control by next week, since he’s already having more symptoms because of the jaundice. Are there other things that he should be monitoring while he is waiting to get in to Mayo? Does anyone have experience with what happens when the metal stents fail?
I’m 9,000 miles away in Singapore and feeling very worried and helpless to do anything for him.
Hi vrsmith,
I don’t know if either you or your husband are on Facebook or not. But if you are there is a page for Vietnam vets and cholangiocarcinoma if you are interested. If so, it can be found here –
And of course, we are all here for you too!
My best wishes to you and your husband,
Gavin
Dear Peggy,
Sorry to hear about your brother. My husband is a Viet Nam Vet and he too was recently diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma. He was exposed to agent orange while he was doing his tour. We feel there must be a connection between agent orange and this cancer since so many veterans are suffering from this cancer. Wishing your brother to best and a speedy healing.
Peggy….good to know that everything went well. And, as the others have mentioned, your brother will feel better really soon. Things are rolling now
Hugs,
MarionPeggy,
I’m sorry I didn’t see your update till after I posted asking how your brother is doing. That’s great to hear he’s getting the jaundice under control with the stents and will be moving forward with treatments soon. I’m sure it seems like an eternity and you all can’t start soon enough. Best wishes to you and your brother.
WillowPeggy,
How frustrating for your brother to have this infection and delay to chemo. How is he doing now?
WillowHi Peggy,
Glad to hear that your brother got his stents placed finally and I hope that they work well for him. Once they start draining and clearing up the jaundice then his onc will have a much better idea as to when his chemo can start, hopefully that will be very very soon!! Let us know how everything goes and what they say about his chemo.
My best to you and your brother,
Gavin
Hi Peggy. I can’t believe that took so long but the important thing is finally, it is done. He should be feeling better already although some yellow tint hangs around a few weeks. Do you know when he begins his chemo? Thanks for the up date and please let us know how the chemo goes. Take care.
I finally have an update on my brother. He went to Mayo this week and had another ERCP and stent placed on Tuesday. The procedure went well and they were able to place 2 metal stents so that now both lobes are draining. Hopefully that will help with the jaundice so that he can finally begin his chemo treatments. I know that it has been discouraging that he was diagnosed in May and still hasn’t been able to begin his chemo!
I don’t know whether the metal stents prevent radioembolization, but he doesn’t have a metal stent (yet) and Mayo told him that he wasn’t a candidate for radiation (or surgery).
Do metal stents prevent radioembolization? I seem to recall that the doctor from Moffitt that did the radioembolization video (linked in the video section of this website) was down on metal stents. If you haven’t watched that video, I highly recommend it for understanding the procedure and its benefits.
Anyway, let me echo Marion and suggest you ask your oncologist about what treatment options are impacted should they put in metal stents.
Jason
Peggy….metal stents are permanent and will prevent (in almost all instances) contemplated resections in the future. Not sure that I understand the comment about placing the stent somewhere else then anticipated. Was it that the area was blocked? If indeed an infection is brewing then your brother needs to be treated for that. Hoping to hear that the long trip to Mayo will answer these questions.
Hugs,
Marion
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