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Eating after an esophagectomy
I was recently diagnosed with esophagus cancer, long story short diagnosis was late (months past initial symptoms) partially my fault, partially doctors. Anyway, I am about to start chemo and immuno therapies next week, then supposed to have an esophagectomy in mid/late July; and I'm terrified of "life after" that surgery and am hoping to hear from people here, real world examples I suppose, of what that is like primarily around eating.
I can handle the smaller meals, sleeping at a bit of an incline etc albeit not happy about it of course, but what really concerns me is actually eating / chewing / swallowing.
I've discovered even with my esophagus closed up so I can't really eat I can still get some "treats" past it; a Reeses PB cup for example. Although regardless I'll pay with some discomfort while my system processes it, if I chew it to the point of being just nothing, like liquid/paste, I can get it down. Same with other items even a bit of cheese etc. Trick is to chew to the point of being a liquid / paste before attempting to swallow.
This is where my terror kicks in. I don't even do the treats like this after discovering this because frankly having to process it in my mouth for that long, chewing etc, takes every ounce of enjoyment out of it. Gone. It's a chore & miserable.
TLDR; will this need to be done with all meals for life after this surgery? Or will I be able to get back to "normal'ish" chewing and swallowing? I know I'll need to keep with the j tube, then move onto liquids, then soft foods etc till I can get to solid food during recovery likely months worth. But, I'm terrified that I'll have to chew to this extent for the rest of my life, absolutely demolishing my love of food (I'm a good cook/foodie; it's something I love).
Would love to hear some first hand accounts of what you're experience has been with this?
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@mcdonsco Had my esophagectomy beginning of December 2025. I was actually surprised that swallowing wasn’t that different. Of course I wasn’t taking anything by mouth at the time, but swallowing saliva seemed fairly normal, and there was no pain in the area where they stapled the stomach conduit to my upper throat. Every case is somewhat different of course. Good luck to you!
@stever1 I had the leak. It was like a sprinkler 🙁
After that I had strictures and couldn’t swallow food. I had to get stretched too close to 15 times, then I started doing my own stretchings with a boogie dilator. Did them for a five or six months and then I didn’t need them that often. Now I do a maintenance stretch every four or five months. I eat and drink everything now. Just like always.
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1 ReactionFrom everything i'm reading seems like bread / flour tortillas etc are going to be a problem to eat.
Like a burrito, or sandwich or burger etc
Anyone gone through this and have experience eating these items?
I had an esophagectomy and total gastrectomy in early May. I got my J tube removed last week so am still learning about eating. For me it's hard because I have to space out eating and drinking throughout the day because I don't have a stomach to store any of it, so it goes directly into my small intestine. I do take small bites and usually do the 25+ chews before swallowing most things. I still feel like I can enjoy the food, but yes, it does feel somewhat like a chore. I can generally swallow just fine, but sometimes food and even water do feel like it still gets a bit stuck...I just give it a minute or two and then it goes down and I can resume what I was eating or drinking. It often come with an air bubble sound. I'm hoping in time I can get into a good "new normal" as right now it's hard to get enough calories and hydration because of the spacing between eating and drinking.
I just was told by my thoracic surgeon, that I have a para conduit hernia as a result of my esophagectomy 7 years ago -my diaphragm got larger and some of the stomach pull up bulged out and that's the hernia. It has been stable and showed on my 2024 cat scan as well. She's never done an operation to cure it and since I don't have any symptoms, like a lot of reflux or inability to digest food or nausea that she would recommend not doing anything so I just wanna know if anybody else has been diagnosed with a para conduit hernia and how long have you had it? Have you done anything about it? I'm on omeprazole twice a day one 20 mg in the morning and one 40 mg at night and I take one 20 mg Pepcid at 11 am and two 20 mg tablets at 8 PM since I started on this higher regimen of omeprazole. I've only had one bad episode of reflux in the past year, but I'm very concerned about the hernia and all this omeprazole I must take. The only supplements I take are b12 and d3 and vit e and calcium citrate powder I plan to buy a b12 liquid as I think the b12 tablet has magnesium stearate which I think is hard to take. I have osteoporosis, IBS and I make kidney stones and am seeing a nutritionist doctor, urologist, gastroenterologist and nephrologist, and endocrinologist as I take thryroid and have prediabetes and hypoglycemia. I am 99% vegan and my blood tests are fine I just had a reclast infusion as lost 8 % of my bone in 2.5 years and take the calcium so I won't make stones.