lmcherry
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I am on my 7th set of tubes, the last 3 with gradually increasing sizes, and the leakage just seems to get worse and worse. I went to an ostomy clinic last week and they put on a child-sized ostomy bag to collect the leakage. It worked well for an afternoon before it, too, started to leak. The problem appears to be the small hole they needed to put in the ostomy bag for the drainage tube to pass through on its way to the collection bag on my leg. They attempted to seal that up with waterproof tape, but it started oozing within a couple of hours followed by catastrophic leakage. I am wondering about something else to seal the edges of the ostomy bag to the tube, like maybe a silicone sealant? Has anyone else had any experience with this?
After much discussion among endoscopists at my treatment center, the consensus was that I was after all not a good candidate for a covered metal stent due to the location of the biliary stricture. Because the plastic stents are not working well any more and are increasing difficult to insert (for an unrelated reason), they are now recommending external/internal drainage, where a tube will descend into the duodenum at one end, move up through the biliary duct, and go transcutaneously to the outside of the body on the other end. They tell me that most/all drainage usually occurs internally, so that the external opening can be capped off after a few days, rather than having to wear a bag there. What I don’t know yet, and haven’t been able to find on reports here: 1. Can the current plastic stent be removed during the same procedure as the insertion of the internal/external drainage catheter? 2. How do overall success rates compare for the two approaches to biliary draining? 3. How long can I expect the internal/external catheter to remain usable?
Iowagirl…That’s pretty much how I feel. I just wanted to make sure that there was not serious or permanent going on. It’s a little bit of a nuisance to have my vision off kilter for awhile, but nothing I can’t live with. And the ramped up use of eye drops really does help.
This morning I saw the ophthalmologist at M. D. Anderson. They retested my prescription and found that, after a week of frequent eye drops, my vision had changed again, moving back part of the way towards what it was last fall. She found no evidence of glaucoma or nerve damage. She said that vision changes were very common in chemo patients due to the drying effect of the drugs used (both in the premed cocktail and in the actual treatment). This is especially true in people like me who tend to have dry eyes anyway. The dryness changes the surface of the eyes, sometimes causing deposits on the eye, all of which can cause significant although transient changes in vision. I was sent home with a recommendation to use good quality eye drops without preservatives at least 3 times a day (and always before computer use or any activity that causes long-term staring where blinking may be reduced). She also specifically warned against getting any new glasses for the duration of chemo, as my vision (as has been the case over the last 2 months) could change dramatically on a week to week basis. No need to consider altering therapy.
The visit to my regular eye doctor (an optometrist) documented that my vision had changed quite a bit in both eyes since my last regular appointment in September 2014. (I started chemo in late April.) I’ve become significantly more farsighted in both eyes. I contacted my oncologist, and he referred me to an M.D. Anderson ophthalmologist. I will be seeing her tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, taking better care of my eyes (good eye drops multiple times a day to relieve dryness; warm compresses; limiting use of my e-reader) has improved the symptoms quite a bit from last week.
