In the late stage of this disease, you can't even swallow a drop of water. Doctors: Be alert to esophageal cancer when you have progressive dysphagia

When I first saw Lao Pu in the clinic, I was shocked by his wrinkled body. "Doctor, I always choke when I swallow food. I haven't dared to eat for several days."

I asked Lao Pu in detail about his condition. He was 65 years old and had progressive dysphagia for three months. He could only eat water and porridge. He lost 30 catties in three months. The rapid weight loss caused his skin to become loose and wrinkled. Clinical experience told me that it might be a problem with the esophagus, so I prescribed an upper gastrointestinal tract angiography. The results showed that there was a mass in the esophagus, and esophageal cancer was considered. Lao Pu was given a hospitalization ticket for hospitalization.

Old Pu was very optimistic. As a descendant of Pu Songling, he always said during his ward rounds: "When I get better, I will take you to Pu Songling's former residence. I will be your tour guide!" However, his examination results did not make people happy. The CT scan showed that the tumor was tightly attached to the heart's large blood vessels. The operation was extremely risky and it was unknown whether it could be completely removed.

During the preoperative conversation, Lao Pu's son said, "Doctor, my grandfather, uncle and younger uncle all died of esophageal cancer. Just do your best. We believe in you and we will not complain if anything goes wrong."

Since the patient's family trusted us so much, we gave it a try. During the operation, the tumor had eaten through the pericardium, and part of the tumor was tightly attached to the large blood vessels. Both the assistant and the instrument nurse were extremely careful when breathing, for fear of disturbing the director. After half an hour of hard work, the most difficult part was finally successfully removed. The director said with sweat on his forehead, "It's true that whoever performs the surgery sweats the most!"

Although the operation was successfully completed, it was foreseeable that the prognosis would not be very good. The postoperative pathological results were as expected, with multiple positive lymph nodes and advanced esophageal cancer. However, the obstruction was temporarily relieved after all, and as the anastomosis healed, Lao Pu finally drank water again and ate his favorite steamed buns.

However, 3 months after the operation, Lao Pu felt difficulty eating again. The recurrent tumor quickly blocked the esophageal lumen. Everyone hoped that radiotherapy would be effective for him, but contrary to expectations, Lao Pu's effect was not good. Soon Lao Pu could only drink porridge and water. In order to ensure nutrition, we tried to put Lao Pu in an intestinal nutrition tube, but the tumor blocked it too tightly. The director took half an hour of radiation but it was unsuccessful. We told the family that we could also insert a nutrition tube into Lao Pu's intestines through surgery, but Lao Pu refused. On the one hand, he was too thin, and on the other hand, he felt that he was not to the point where he could not drink anything.

As if it weren't raining, one morning Lao Pu had a violent cough and coughed up a bunch of rotten meat-like things mixed with some food residues. It turned out that the tumor had grown out of the esophagus and penetrated the trachea, causing tracheoesophageal fistula. In this situation, Lao Pu could not even drink water.

In the following days, Lao Pu seemed to have accepted his fate. He refused all invasive treatments and could only maintain nutrition through intravenous infusion. Obviously, this nutrition was not enough. Lao Pu became thinner and thinner. He could not get out of bed. He opened his eyes during every ward round, and then closed them again to return to his own world.

Lao Pu hadn't eaten for a long time. One morning, while his son went to fetch water, Lao Pu struggled to get the dragon fruit on the table, ate two bites, and finally a smile appeared on his face. However, it was followed by a violent cough, followed by chest tightness and shortness of breath, and finally his heart stopped beating.

Lao Pu has passed away. His family expressed their gratitude for our care and efforts all along, and later presented him with a banner.

I often think that if Lao Pu had come to see a doctor when he first felt resistance to eating, perhaps everything would have been different. I also hope that everyone can take this as a warning, especially those who have a family history of esophageal cancer and go for regular gastroscopy examinations. After all, not being able to eat is really too painful.