Skip to main content

The Liver Stent for Bile Backup

The Liver Stent

As mentioned before, the tumor was wrapped around Mathew’s bile duct and had invaded the liver. The stent was to relieve the backup and allow the bile to either drain outside of his body or into his small intestines.
There are different ways the stent can be put in depending on the situation so I won’t get into a big explanation of what it is and how it works right now.

At this point, these are some of the things we knew, were focusing on, and dealing with each day:

  • they had narrowed the type of cancer to a small blue round cell cancer.
  • the tumor is fixed and non-moving.
  • Damen Reed from the Sarcoma clinic was the oncologist.
  • Mathew’s leg pain kept increasing.
  • constant fear of a blood clot.
  • edema in legs, genitals, and fluid in his lungs.
  • his body was full of toxins.
  • Mathew was stressed and filled with anxiety.
  • extreme pain in his legs, knees, spasms in his back, difficulty sleeping.
  • at times his body was very hot.
  • there was mention of “palliative chemo.” I’m glad that at the time, I didn’t realize the implications of that suggestion.
  • we were meeting all the different members of what was becoming Mathew’s team, which consisted of different types of doctors, the Chaplain, social workers, youth group and more.



After the stent was in place, Mathew complained it was very painful. Not surface pain at the incision but deep pain. 
This picture was taken shortly after it was in place. You can see how distended his belly is, that is fluid build up and the tumor.


The yellowish tube you see, is the drainage from the stent, going into an external bag. You can also see the pic line on Mathew's arm which was done at the Zephyrhills Hospital. It will eventually be replaced with a port. 


Different types of visitors are good for the soul.
Mathew’s friend Brooke came and stayed with him and his brother-in-law Dan but eventually long visits would still need one of Mathew’s main caregivers (myself, Diane and Arpie) to be on hand, because of the nuances of any changes in condition.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

About this Blog, A Journey Through Sarcoma

Confections for Cats, A Journey through Sarcoma is a chronicle of my son's journey through Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Sarcoma. It is intended to educate and inspire by using Mathew’s thoughts and feelings, dreams and fears through a variety of mediums; art, music, and writing. Through factual experience, what we learned and what we wish we had known. Mathew’s desire was to give meaning to his journey and in the process help anyone else on a similar path. The last possible explanation in my mind for my son’s health problems was cancer. Even the words “the scan shows a large mass” didn’t lead me to conclude cancer and when the cancer diagnosis was confirmed, I still wasn’t prepared. My Mother is a breast cancer survivor and my sister Elizabeth passed away three years after her breast cancer diagnosis. I thought I knew what cancer treatment and living with cancer looked like, but none of us could imagine or be prepared for how all semblance of routine and normalcy had alre...
Post a Comment
Read more

When a Cancer Patient Has a Medical Emergency

3 Days in the DRC, Part 1 If you haven’t read my first post about the DRC at Moffitt and how it works, since Moffitt does not have an ER, you can read about it here.  https://confectionsforcats.blogspot.com/2018/04/neutropenic-fever-after-ie-chemo-and.html In summary, the DRC is where an existing Moffitt patient is directed to go if they have a medical emergency.  Usually, we would be there a few hours or overnight (since we arrived at midnight or shortly afterward) until they had a room for Mathew on the ward. This particular visit Mathew stayed in the DRC three days. As mentioned in my other post, the DRC has maybe two rooms with a bathroom; otherwise, one bathroom for about a dozen patients. In Mathew’s case, a patient with a lowered immune system.  This time Mathew was in the room furthest from the bathroom.  When inpatient, we had a routine for getting him to the bathroom. First, he needed the IV unplugged (often quickly) and most times, I ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hair Loss After Chemo for Sarcoma, My Son's Point of View

I can't imagine or pretend to know how it feels to lose your hair because you have cancer and the chemo causes your hair to fall out.  I only know what I saw with Mathew and years ago, my sister Elizabeth's experience as they lost their hair to chemotherapy. But it was something that affected Mathew more than just the initial hair loss, it had nuances. Here is a journal entry. It's short but I think it speaks volumes. MATHEW’S JOURNAL     5-23-14 Lately, I’ve been envious of people’s hair. Well, I guess not envious of other people’s hair but missing mine. I told my Mom about it and expressed to her that I was afraid I was falling prey to vanity. She expressed the idea that I may be missing having hair because it’s part of being healthy. I do miss having a life and at the same time, I’m afraid that I may never have a full life again or that I may lose what’s left of the one I have. -  I’ve been thinking about dying a lot lately. I don’t know wh...
Post a Comment
Read more