My Battle with Merkel Cell Cancer

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asked what was going on and we told her. She made the decision. We had to let the
mouse go. We argued, but my mother was the boss. So we opened the minnow trap, and
the mouse scurried away. He didn't get very far, as the dog, who was watching this with
some interest, pounced on the mouse, and within a heartbeat, the mouse was dead.
There is a lesson to be learned from this. Men may be cruel, but nature can be just as
cruel.
Posted by David Shuster at 04:10PM (-08:00)
Another Complication of Radiation Treatment
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
As I reported in my previous post, I am having difficulty eating. I get spasms of pain which
appear to come from my lower esophagus. The pain is worse later in the day, and is
worse with eating dry solid foods. Liquids go down better, and in the morning, I can eat
my Rice Krispies with raisins, banana and blueberries without these spasms. Pudding,
ice cream and yogurt are OK. Today, I called Dr. Flam and asked to see him. He had
come back from vacation earlier than I thought, and I was there at 4:00 PM. The office
was surprisingly busy. I got my port flushed and had labs which are stable. I have not lost
weight. A chest X-Ray showed improvement from the previous, and I was better able to
take a deeper breath. I realized that in that respect, I am significantly improved. Dr. Flam
is quite certain that this is not due to recurrence of Merkel Cell carcinoma but is a stricture
of the esophagus due to radiation. He called my gastroenterologist, Dr. Robert Lewis to
set up an appointment for an esopho-gastroscopy and dilatation of the stricture, but it
was too late to reach him. I expect this to be scheduled tomorrow, and hopefully to be
done by early next week. In the meanwhile, I am to have only liquids and "pureed food".
"No bagels and lox" in the words of Dr. Flam.
Stricture of the esophagus is a relatively common complication of radiation treatment and
usually responds well to balloon dilatation. The major complication of rupture of the
esophagus is relatively rare, less than 1% for all strictures, but greater for radiation
strictures. The procedure may have to be repeated more than once as the stricture has a
tendency to recur.
I think it will be an out-patient procedure.
It is of interest that I am feeling otherwise quite well and am functioning at a good level.
I will report a follow-up when I have more information.
Posted by David Shuster at 07:39PM (-08:00)
Dilatation for Today, Almost an Emergency
Friday, January 13, 2012
This morning, after taking my Hydrocodone-Homatropine cough syrup and 2 small pills, I
tried a mouthful of well chewed Rice Krispies. It would not go down, In fact, for the next
45 minutes, nothing would go down, not even my own saliva and I was having severe
pain. There were lots of oral secretions which I had to spit out, and with coughing, some
of the cereal came back up. I could not even drink my coffee.
This is significant progression of symptoms. Yesterday, I was able to eat a whole bowl of
cereal without much discomfort.
I attribute this to flow dynamics. The flow through a tube is related to the 4th power of the
diameter. Reduce the diameter by 1/2, and the flow rate is reduced to 1/16.
The symptoms now have abated somewhat.
My appointment with Dr. Lewis is for 3:00 PM but he has thankfully moved me up to 1:00
My Battle with Merkel Cell Cancer