Hi my name is Scott I’m 62. I’ve had surgery for my EC. Sounds like mine might be different. I had two surgery teams. One team from the front which they worked first to unhook my stomach from my esophagus and take nodes out to check for spread of cancer. Other team went in my right side deflating my lung and taking 20 cm of my esophagus out and using part of my stomach for my new esophagus. 9 hr surgery. Hospital stay was 8 days. My surgical teams were awesome. After surgery waited 4 weeks then started my last 4 chemo treatments. I was glad I had the surgery. But it’s definitely a very personal choice. What ever your dad decides. I hope everything works out for him and you and family. Stay strong.