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Stents were the one thing that seemed to bring my mother in law back to us. She has a golf ball size tumor in the bile duct and opting for no treatment. She had an external bag for about two months and was pretty much in the bed the whole time. The day the stent was put in…she walked from the car and up the stairs, the next day she was up around the house and the same week went for a walk on the beach. She needed the stent, and it made a WORLD of difference. I can only hope for something so simple for your husband. Perhaps another doctor’s take on this might be in order.
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.
Hi there, my mother in law is also oping for no treatment. She’s being treated through Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. She did have a plastic stent inserted just two weeks ago,what a HUGE difference it has made. She doesnt want any surgery, etc. I’d love to stay in touch with you since we are in the same situation . My MIL is only 67 and otherwise was in terrific shape and health as a horse, or we though.We found out she had cholangio around Aug 1st…she was jaundiced (and had an external drain) and boy what a tough 60 days until the stent and capping off the drain. She says now she feels almost as good as she use to. Dr’s are not very promising sounding, very professional but have prepared everyone for the worst at this point. I hope she has lots of time left, she’s doing great right now.
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!
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.
Thank you all for so much information. It’s so helpful to know what so many people have found helpful. I am hoping that today and tomorrow are easy on her and we’ll wait til next Thursday for the results. I really appreciate everything. I’d rather know all the options and things that have worked than to know none. We’ve done alot of research and yes we believe in the second opinion too.
Her cancer is in the bile duct and tumor blocking the bile from passing. The doctors told us she would more than likely have the same time frame for quality of life with and without the surgery. The surgery would be such major surgery then recoop time and if all went EXACT then she could expect the same quality of life time. The Dr’s did feel that the surgery may be risky with her due to how involved it is and if they could attach enough to the liver. (Again, someone said the time frame of 6 months has been mentioned, I just cannot get an answer on who gave them this) The doctors at Mayo haven’t given us a time line. The family and her met with Dr Nuygen at Mayo Jacksonville, FL. Once the test are done on Tuesday and we wait a week for the results we will know more then. Waiting is not good, we dont have time on our side. Of course all the kids want her to have surgery and do whatever it takes but she is accepting of the cancer and wants to live life to the fullest right now for the good time she has. It’s a hard decision to make on her end and of course a hard one for the kids to take by her not electing to have the surgery hoping for a miracle. We will ask the doctors on Tuesday if there is anything she can do to get her strength built up, she’s just lost all this in the last two weeks and daily it seems to get worse. We want her to at least feel better and be able to go for a walk on the beach and swim–she did this everyday of her life up until a few weeks ago. This seems to be a silent zapper for sure and not knowing what to do for her is dishearting. She’s such a sweet, gentle and awesome mom and grandmother and we want what is best for her. I am sure we are just like every other family- the shock of this dreaded disease and how fast it takes a toll leaves us without having a chance to take a breath. Thank you all for your care, concern and talking with me about this and allowing me to lean on you for information.
Thank you all for the quick response and thank you for sharing your experiences with us. She’s 67 years young! The doctors do not feel having surgery would give her any more additional quality of life time and since she lost her husband to cancer after several major surgeries and recoop, she is determined not to go that route. She doesnt feel the major surgery and recoop will offer her much more time than things just taking their course
. Although the dr’s have no said a time limit (thank goodness, there’s no stamp on her–borrowed that from the commercial). She’d rather have the stent and possibly radiation and have as much enjoyable time as possible. I am just concerned that all of a sudden she is so tired. She has no pain and the jaundice has been gone for about two weeks. I am just so shocked at how fast (just weeks) she went from full of live and vacationing, swimming everyday to being fatigued and tired after just moving around the house some. Just wondering if there is something else we should be looking at or asking about. Thank you all so much for your insight.
