Bubbling in esophagus when eating acidic foods

I've noticed those of us who get stretched early... seem to need to be stretched often. Just an observation from the hundreds of esophagectomy patients I've talked to.

That being said... you are doing well considering how early on you are post-op. And that's what you must realize... you are still early on for an esophagectomy patient. I saw continual and tremendous improvements, even in my 2nd year post-op. So keep playing with things... experimenting if you will... as what doesn't work today could very well work 3 months from now. Could there eventually be permanent changes you must make in terms of your diet... in terms of OTC med use, like PPIs, using Tums or Gaviscon Advance, drinking less dairy, or carbonation, or whatever? Could be. But I find everything works for me again... but it just took its sweet-ass time getting there. I'm two months away from being 5 years post-op... and I did not have the stomach ulcer you're also dealing with. I was dilated 4 times... but my first one came at 6 months post-op. My anastomosis scar tissue was fully healed and quite firm... it held the slow and steady stretches my GI doctor gave me.

Be well.

Gary

I also use a Maloney Dilator. Has been a life changer.

Thx Gary

I actually eat everything. I have actually pigged out several times and my stomach hurt like hell with cramps but thats because I obviously ate too much. My only issue nowadays is the occasional bubbling with some acidic foods that happens from the acid in the food, or a combination of that with food sticking in my throat. I self dilate and that helps with food sticking. Overall my life is pretty much back to normal and I am exercising more than ever so I am pretty healthy now. Also, I dont have a stomach ulcer, it was a STROMAR tumor 5 cm long and doc took it out. It was on the opposite side of gastric junction cancer,

THX

I use three sizes but neither on goes past 30 inches. Doc says it should go down further but it feels like its getting stuck somewhere in my upper chest, still it seems to be working since I haven't had to go for endoscopy in two months. (I was going every two weeks)

Any advice on getting dilator to go further down?

Cheers

I use a 48FR dilator, but have a 46FR as a backup. I have to insert it 20” (white “35” on the dilator) past my incisors (front teeth). I haven’t had an endoscopy for two years. I was having one every week, and then had stents until I started the self dilation. I could write a book about problems I encountered with stents. The only advice I can offer about getting your dilator to go farther is the dilator sometimes “coils” and it is difficult to “push” them when this happens. What, if anything are you using for lubrication?? I used to use McKesson Lubricating Jelly. It worked well but I eventually stopped using anything and have not had any problems. How often do you dilate?? I do it every day, but have discussed with Doc about reducing the frequency and see what happens. He said to go ahead and do that and I had about a 50/50 chance it would work. If it doesn’t work it would mean an endoscopy to get back on track. I haven’t had the guts to try yet. It took almost 6 years to get this far and I don’t want to screw anything up.

Just thought of a couple more things. You say “30 inches”. The dilator is not quite that long from end to end. You might mean 30 cm, which would be the “white 30” on the dilator. You also say you have 3 different dilators. I am assuming they are different sizes. You should only need to use one and it would need to be the correct size (mine is 48FR/aka 16mm). How did the doctor measure you for your dilator?? In my training, the Doc started me with a smaller size (around 42FR), and gradually increased the size until I could not pass the dilator through the “connection”, which in my case was 51FR. That is how I settled on the 48FR and have been using it since (2 years +). If yours is hanging up at the “connection” it may be a little too large.

Wow! You self-dilate? Have never heard of this!!

Hi there, you made doubt myself so I went and measured the dilators.

They measure exactly 30 inches or 76 centimeters. My stenosis is between 19 to 21 cm from the incisors according to surgical records and endoscopies. I misspoke when I said doc wants me to insert down to 35 inches, it is to the number 35 (for centimeters) and I can only stick it in to 30cm which is where it seems to get stuck. In my opinion if my stenosis is at 21 cm and I am inserting down to 30 I am going well past the stenosis but doc said to try to get it farther down to 35. When I did it with the doctor the very first time, HE slid it down and I think it went down to about 35 or 40 cm. It may have helped I had just had endoscopic dilation a couple days begore that. In any case this May 12th will be two months without getting an endoscopy so this is working for me. It still bothers me when the tip scratches my throat and then still get gagging but I am getting the hang of it although I don't usually last more than 40 seconds or so with dilator inside my esophagus. Any tips?

In answer to your question the doctor didn't measure for dilator. I read my endoscopy report which said they dilated me first to 18, then to 19, then to 20 mm in a space of two minutes each time and that is what I am trying to replicate at home. I first bought a 17.2 mm dilator and asked the doc to teach me how to use it so he put it in 2 times, then told me to do it myself which I did. After that I bought the 18.5 and the 20mm dilators (52fr, 56fr, 60fr)) and I do the dilations using all three staring with smallest obviously. I do this every three to 5 days so my throat can rest a bit. I use KY jelly and a throat desensitizer sometimes.

I just want to say to anyone reading this you should seek your doctor's advice when using dilators (because after reading you I realized I kind of self-medicated when I made the decision to buy the dilators) although I did ask my doc to get them for me so he is well aware)

Reading back your message it seems you also insert to 35 cm so same as me. I think you could try dilating one day and then resting one day and see how it works. I am going to increase the frequency to see if that improves things for me. You might ask for a second opinion to see if you can use a thicker dilator now that you can handle the 16mm. I am not sure how narrow /complicated your stricture is but mine is a "simple" 1.5cm stenosis. In any case that is something you could consult with your doctor. Cheers!

Yes, I found out about it through my own research when I realized I had to do endoscopies every other week. (see below my reply to someone else)

Hi there, you made doubt myself so I went and measured the dilators.

They measure exactly 30 inches or 76 centimeters. My stenosis is between 19 to 21 cm from the incisors according to surgical records and endoscopies. I misspoke when I said doc wants me to insert down to 35 inches, it is to the number 35 (for centimeters) and I can only stick it in to 30cm which is where it seems to get stuck. In my opinion if my stenosis is at 21 cm and I am inserting down to 30 I am going well past the stenosis but doc said to try to get it farther down to 35. When I did it with the doctor the very first time, HE slid it down and I think it went down to about 35 or 40 cm. It may have helped I had just had endoscopic dilation a couple days begore that. In any case this May 12th will be two months without getting an endoscopy so this is working for me. It still bothers me when the tip scratches my throat and then still get gagging but I am getting the hang of it although I don't usually last more than 40 seconds or so with dilator inside my esophagus. Any tips?

In answer to your question the doctor didn't measure for dilator. I read my endoscopy report which said they dilated me first to 18, then to 19, then to 20 mm in a space of two minutes each time and that is what I am trying to replicate at home. I first bought a 17.2 mm dilator and asked the doc to teach me how to use it so he put it in 2 times, then told me to do it myself which I did. After that I bought the 18.5 and the 20mm dilators (52fr, 56fr, 60fr)) and I do the dilations using all three staring with smallest obviously. I do this every three to 5 days so my throat can rest a bit. I use KY jelly and a throat desensitizer sometimes.

I just want to say to anyone reading this you should seek your doctor's advice when using dilators (because after reading you I realized I kind of self-medicated when I made the decision to buy the dilators) although I did ask my doc to get them for me so he is well aware)

Reading back your message it seems you also insert to 35 cm so same as me. I think you could try dilating one day and then resting one day and see how it works. I am going to increase the frequency to see if that improves things for me. You might ask for a second opinion to see if you can use a thicker dilator now that you can handle the 16mm. I am not sure how narrow /complicated your stricture is but mine is a "simple" 1.5cm stenosis. In any case that is something you could consult with your doctor. Cheers!

Our message is getting longer. That is good. I agree that if your stenosis is @ 21cm, and you are getting too 30cm, that it should be passing through (something to keep in mind is that the tapered end of the dilator is not part of the measurement, and I haven’t done the math to determine it’s length). I can physically feel when I have inserted the dilator through the stricture and can go all the way to the end with no problem, although there is no need to do that. I do not leave the dilator in my esophagus for any length of time like you are doing, I remove immediately which is what the Doc told me to do. I do the procedure every day as it has become so simple to do. I am done with everything in less than a minute and then wash the Maloney with mild unscented soap under warm water. I have been tempted many times to reduce the frequency and alternate days. My Doc said it was okay to do that but I am going to continue with the routine I have gotten accustomed to. I know I could easily move up a few mm in size but the 48FR dilator is working fine and I can eat anything I want to so I don’t see a need to increase. I have two outstanding Doctors that I consulted with before doing this, and they both gave me the same advice so in a sense I did get a second opinion. I went to the Mayo Clinic for my initial training and everyone was absolutely amazing to deal with. I was done in15 minutes and on my way home with a dilator. I haven’t needed an endoscopy for a stretch in over two years so it’s definitely working. Good Luck and I hope your success continues.