Why do people get excess mucus/phlegm after esophageal cancer surgery?

hello its Ajax2026- the person who started this discussion. i read more and it seem the surgeon must go through the lung (collapse it) as part of the procedure so i think i may have answered my own question. Everyone-you are a great group brave and kind 🦾💪

First, I am not a doctor but a person who has had radiation as treatment for tonsil cancer. I too had/have the same question, where does all this stuff come from? Is it my sinuses, is it from my lungs, is it from my throat, is it from my esophagus?The lead doctor of my tumor team is an ENT and he explained to me that my body sees the scar tissue (fibrosis) left by the radiation as foreign and therefore produces the mucus. He also said it will not improve. That being said, I am happy for you to have an answer for your condition.

I had esophageal cancer. Surgery Feb. 2020. Mucus has been a huge issue. So much I can't breathe at times. I chew Gaviscon as it helps with the acid in my stomach and clears it up. Also I take Phlegm and Mucus whenever I have trouble with food caught in my throat. I think I an stuck with this forever. Onwards and upwards!

@doglover888 It's obvious from your remark about food stuck in your stomach indicates you have a stricture. If food gets stuck, so will your saliva, which begins, particularly as you begin to eat, as thick, to aid in digestion. At a guess, you may be having esophageal spasms, trapping food and saliva, as I do. I'm due for my second dilation for my stricture today just after noon. Although I'm afraid it'll have to be postponed because I forgot to stop my Eliquis soon enough. (The stretching process necessitates some bleeding, particularly because they are, in most cases, stretching scar tissue.) An oncologist friend, not my own doctor, told me he had a patient up to 40 dilations. There are other procedures which may be tried, if dilation doesn't work. The date of your surgery indicates you are a survivor. You don't have to put up with this symptom, with which I'm very familiar, unfortunately...

Hi. Yes I am a survivor. I will ask my oncologist in March about options. I had a feeling it could be scar tissue. Next Wed. I have my last scope. If I don't have cancer apparently I'll be cured. Thanks for getting back to me. Good luck and stay positive. Deb

@earle
I can relate. I had close to 40 dilations after surgery and also multiple stents. I finally started doing self dilation. Works great but probably not for everyone. Much better than frequent endoscopies for dilation.

I was curious about the self-dilations. I have an active gag reflex (so my ENT tells me), so I wasn't sure I could pull it off. It certainly sounded like it could really come in handy for a stuck bolus. My stricture is right below my larynx, about a third of the way down, so it certainly should be easily reachable. BTW, I declined surgery, so my esophagus is intact. My situation is complicated by spasms, which have caused two stuck boluses...

@earle
You could pull it off easily if you needed to. The gag reflex is purely physiological and can be overcome easily with concentration. I have never gagged once, nor has the dozens of other people whom I have worked with who are self dilating.

It comes mainly from your saliva glands to aid digestion. You don't notice it, unless it's not following its normal path to your stomach, in which case it collects in your mouth, to be disposed of some other way...