← Return to Living life after treatment and surgery for Esophageal Cancer.

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@riknielsen

Buongiorno Steve,

Fully understand, where you are at in your journey with this cancer. Hopefully, you are still hanging in there. My diagnosis was Sep 2022. Received radiation and chemo, followed by gastricesophageal resection and then immunotherapy. Past immunotherapy and basically at the same level physically as prediagnosis. The only difference has been dealing with the nutritional consequences of chemo mainly and with surgery secondarily. Now at age 82. Also lost weight, initially, from 160 down to 136. Now back up to roughly at 150. So oh yeah, that muscle mass decreases. That is the negative side. The bright side is the fat goes, too! Muscle came back. The fat stores didn’t. But as you are learning, too, due to the gastric size reduction protein intake needs to be increased. I did doctoral studies in nutritional biochemistry in the 1970s, but felt like a neophyte regarding nutrition after chemo and surgery. Have been working my way through it. Would be glad to give advice from my experience. Nutritionists and docs gave generic advice, that was virtually useless.

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Replies to "Buongiorno Steve, Fully understand, where you are at in your journey with this cancer. Hopefully, you..."

Grazie Rikneilson. I'm getting to know my new GI system better now. Portion sizes have increased and I get fewer episodes of what seems to be dumping syndrome. The two theories and I emphasize the word theories are that it's due to sugar regulation and insulin rebound or undigested food dumping out of the stomach too soon. I don't fit cleanly into either of these. I was trying to find out WHY this happens so that I could avoid it, but I don't think i'll find the answer with western medical docs. They don't know, nor care. They will blabber on about not too much in one sitting , small frequent meals, low glucogenic foods, healthy fats, etc. I think that Gary is correct when he says that the body will "rewire itself and figure it out".

My question to the group that has the episodes of tachycardia, lightheadedness, and extreme loss of energy after eating. How do you prevent it? Any clue what triggers it? I can answer for me. Too much food "it's that last bite that will get ya" Drinking any fluid with or after I eat also triggers it. To treat it, I lay down and rest as soon as possible. If I fight it, it gets exponentially worse.