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110<br />
Another Esophageal Dilatation Scheduled<br />
Wednesday, January 18, 2012<br />
Today, I had a follow-up appointment <strong>with</strong> Dr. Lewis. I am still having symptoms of my<br />
esophageal stricture. This morning, I ate some cereal for breakfast and 3 small pills, after<br />
which even coffee would not go down. Presumably the pills were enough to block the<br />
esophagus.I was uncomfortable all morning, <strong>with</strong> esophageal pain and some pain<br />
referred to my back. For lunch, I had a bowl of soup and a bottle of Boost Plus and that<br />
went down OK. Dr. Lewis told me he dilated <strong>with</strong> Bougies, which are tapered tubes, up to<br />
56 French, which corresponds to almost 19 mm. The most he will go to is 60 French or<br />
20 mm. He could tell that there was a fairly long segment, about 4-5 cm of narrowing,<br />
andI had some bleeding and pain from the dilatation. Fortunately, I don't have any<br />
memory of the pain.<br />
So why do I still have symptoms? It could be largely spasm, which could be treated by<br />
Beta Blockers or Nitroglycerine. The latter would have a major side effect of headaches.<br />
His inclination is to dilate again, and this will be done Monday afternoon. Sorry, Bert, our<br />
bridge game for Monday will be cancelled.<br />
In the meantime, it is going to be a mainly liquid diet, ingested very slowly for the next 5<br />
days.<br />
Apart from this, I have developed an upper respiratory infection, the first since I was<br />
diagnosed <strong>with</strong> <strong>Merkel</strong> <strong>Cell</strong> Carcinoma. This has not helped, but it seems to be<br />
improving.<br />
Hopefully, this will all be taken care of before mid February, as I have two bridge<br />
tournaments planned, followed by a cruise to Hawaii.<br />
Captain, O Captain, don't go too close to shore.<br />
I love to hear (from a distance), the ocean's soothing roar.<br />
Use the Tenders as Tenders, I love those Tender rides,<br />
Don't use them as lifeboats, <strong>with</strong> the ship listing on its side.<br />
But if the ship were to unfortunately go down,<br />
Rather than die of <strong>Merkel</strong>'s, I would choose to drown.<br />
Posted by David Shuster at 02:41PM (-08:00)<br />
I Need Help Today<br />
Friday, January 20, 2012<br />
Last night at dinner, I tried to eat a fried egg, and got blocked up. I expected the blockage<br />
to ease off as it has in the past, but it is now 16 hours, and nothing goes down. I have to<br />
spit out my saliva. I am having constant pain. I have had no sleep. Dr. Lewis is off today,<br />
but Dr. Cano, his associate, will try to take care of me today at noon.<br />
Poor Judy. Everyone has problems. One son will have sinus surgery soon. Another will<br />
have cystoscopy for occult hematuria. Another will come to Fresno Monday to have<br />
endoscopy Tuesday for what I think is gastric outlet obstruction. Her sister probably<br />
needs to have multiple teeth pulled and a second hip replacement. On top of all this, the<br />
dog has a severe limp and had great difficulty getting down the stairs this morning.<br />
<strong>My</strong> <strong>Battle</strong> <strong>with</strong> <strong>Merkel</strong> <strong>Cell</strong> <strong>Cancer</strong>
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