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What Does This CT Scan Result For Esophageal Cancer Indicate?
My husband has had Stage 4 Her 2 positive esophageal cancer with metastasis to the Liver and 2 lymph nodes in the right axilla since January 2014. He has been through Folfox, Folfuri, Cyramza/Taxol, Herceptin and lastly Oxaliplatin/5Fu and Epirubicin.His cancer has still progressed. We have now started a clinical trial of her2 and KTN last Thursday which is supposed to be a Her 3 inhibitor as well. He has had ascites being drained on 2 fridays one of 6100cc and then last Friday of 5950cc. The ascites returned by Wednesday of this week and is having a permanent catheter placed tomorrow so I can drain him at home. The CT scan showed additional metastasis to the Right Adrenal gland as well as the lungs.My question is how long can his body hang on. He has not eaten nor drank hardly anything in the past week due to pain in his throat which they have started treating today with Nystatin. He s so weak and I just want him to be comfortable. I know you re not god but I need to know if it s likely to be soon or he ll linger.thank you in advance.
posted on
Mon, 4 May 2015
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Sun, 4 Dec 2022
Answered on
Fri, 30 Dec 2022
Last reviewed on
Anonymous's Response
Anonymous's
Response
Hi,
If his current problems are treated correctly, he may have weeks and months of quality time left. His primary problem right now is a yeast infection of his mouth and throat. In a normal healthy person, this would be debilitating due to pain and difficulty swallowing, but in your husbands case it can be life threatening, as he is not able to ingest food or drink properly.
While Nystatin is absolutely not a wrong choice, had your husband been my patient I would prescribe Fluconazole to treat his fungal infection. I advise you to the following: Considering his inability to eat and drink, admission to the hospital for IV-fluids can be lifesaving at the moment, and buy a lot more time. If this is not possible, I would advice to ask for Fluconazole treatment, as this would lead to a more rapid treatment of the fungus compared to Nystatin.
To answer your last question: If nothing else is done, I he can very well not have much time left, however with proper action taken in time, he might have substantially longer.
Take care. Hope I have answered your question. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Regards,
Dr. Maria Riechel-Sarup, General & Family Physician
If his current problems are treated correctly, he may have weeks and months of quality time left. His primary problem right now is a yeast infection of his mouth and throat. In a normal healthy person, this would be debilitating due to pain and difficulty swallowing, but in your husbands case it can be life threatening, as he is not able to ingest food or drink properly.
While Nystatin is absolutely not a wrong choice, had your husband been my patient I would prescribe Fluconazole to treat his fungal infection. I advise you to the following: Considering his inability to eat and drink, admission to the hospital for IV-fluids can be lifesaving at the moment, and buy a lot more time. If this is not possible, I would advice to ask for Fluconazole treatment, as this would lead to a more rapid treatment of the fungus compared to Nystatin.
To answer your last question: If nothing else is done, I he can very well not have much time left, however with proper action taken in time, he might have substantially longer.
Take care. Hope I have answered your question. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Regards,
Dr. Maria Riechel-Sarup, General & Family Physician
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