Who has a metal stent?
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Thanks for that Positivity. I hope that some of the links etc that I post are of use to people, even of they do go over my head much of the time! Hopefully you and your mum will get the answer that you need and also the right treatment as well.
If any of the links you see are are of interest to you and you want to speak with the onc or doctor about them then you could just print them off and show them to the onc rather than trying to remember what they say etc.
Marion, I think it was Andie’s dad that had the plastic stent inserted into the metal one one his metal stent started to clog. Thanks for bring that up as I had forgotten about that option.
Hugs to all,
Gavin
positivity…..In addition to Gavin’s comments I though to mention that metal stents are flexible and should they occlude can be cleaned or, an additional plastic stent can be inserted.
Here is a great article with more information you may want to know, but it is comprehensive and skimming through the article may help you understand a bit more.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1855334/On another note and this pertains to plastic or metal stent, we advise for anyone to carry on hand the biliary emergency card:
Patients with cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) are at risk for a serious complication called ascending cholangitis; a bacterial infection of the biliary system, which can be fatal. The risk of this complication is highest in patients with biliary stents, biliary drainage tubes and/or patients who have had an ERCP or other medical procedure on the biliary tree.To read more, please use this link:
http://cholangiocarcinoma.org/biliary-emergency-information-card/Hugs
MarionThank you Gavin. We will meet with the GI doctor and make the best choice since she is also not operable (which is good since she’s too weak for an operation), and not receiving chemo as it’s too harsh for her body. I hope down the road somewhere we can find an alternative to chemo. I did ask about PDT to one oncologist, but declined it as a possibility due to some unanswered questions regarding her anemia. This whole condition baffles me and hopefully I get some answers each month, other than an awful tumor or will get worse. Since we are dealing with another serious condition it makes it more challenging.
Thanks for your time and research into bile duct conditions. You are helping many people.
Hi there,
My dad had a metal stent inserted straight after his diagnosis of inoperable CC and that went along with the PDT as his treatment. He had the choice of PDT or chemo and he chose the PDT as he believed that it would give him a better quality of life for the time that he had left. His CC was deemed inoperable at diagnosis so that is why he was given the metal over the plastic stent.
The stent worked well for him in clearing up the jaundice and with that he started to feel a lot better. But this was always a paliative measure for him. In case you do not know, plastic stents last on average around 3 months or so before clogging can start to become and issue and metal ones around a year or so before clogging can start. Hopefully that will be of some use to you.
My best wishes to you and your mum,
Gavin
Thank you ! I seriously would love to remove the stents permanently. Is that realistic? Of course not! We may consider the metal stents and should find out soon.
Thanks again, and hopefully you are making progress with your father. I read a couple of older posts to check your background. Just like everyone else mentions, take it a day at a time. The decisions are tough, what to agree on and what to disagree on. Again, we met with one oncologist and he wanted to start immediately on chemo and radiation, and wanted to know why we would want to delay. I walked away, no thank you. Was that a smart decision? At that time, maybe yes, we shall see. Again, I have mentioned this in previous posts, I am against chemo in her unique health situation. I am looking at it as a patient to patient case and even though we share the same condition, the same treatment may not be possible.I am glad everyone shares and participates in this forum.
Who is using a metal stent and for how long? What has been the experience?
My mom has plastic stents and they need to be replaced since it has been almost two months. She is not a candidate for surgery and chemo is not an option right now. I still am not sure about radiation. This is an extremely tough condition and tough decisions need to be made. One oncologist was very pushy to start her treatment right away and not delay, and I disliked the fact of only being given one option and he did not factor in her chronic anemia which was before being diagnosed with CC. He made it seem that it’s okay and that should not interfere with treatment and there are always transfusions.Next step: get these plastic stents replaced as it it not good to keep them in the body long.
What are your experiences with metal stents?
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