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Anorexia & nausea 3 months after esophagectomy
Esophageal Cancer | Last Active: Aug 1, 2023 | Replies (25)Comment receiving replies
I believe that "anorexia nervosa" is the accurate medical term for people with the intent and desire to be skinny who starve themselves. Etymology: From the scientific term anorexia nervosa (1957), from the symptom anorexia (“loss of appetite”), from Ancient Greek ἀν- (an-, “without”) + ὄρεξις (órexis, “appetite, desire”), and Latin nervōsa (“nervous”).
It seems to be a subset of anorexia, apparently, which simply means in Latin: without appetite or without desire.
He is now four months post-op. He did not have chemo or radiation. But he did have to have a tracheostomy, and the tube was removed a few weeks ago. He can physically swallow. So his chief complaints are lack of hunger, constant nausea, and if he forces himself to eat or drink even a small amount of food, he feels very sick.
I don't want to go to phone conversations and neither does my friend. These discussion boards are extremely helpful for others to read so I think this is the best way to communicate. But not everyone may want to share in writing. I am VERY appreciative of the helpful comments most have given here. At this point I am going to see if he will get the feeding tube. I spoke to him yesterday and will again today. He was struggling with drinking and keeping down a half bottle of Boost and was feeling extremely nauseated.
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Alright... I'll assume my help is not needed... all good with me. But I've typed a thousand novels already... just easier to cover so much ground by talking... and I've talked with hundreds now, by phone, by Zoom, by FB video messenger. Just easier to convey a thousand times more info and questions back and forth. But your choice.
I'll end by saying that yes... with the vagus nerves severed... his insides and digestive process are lost... and it's going to be some time before his body rewires itself to get things going back in the right direction. I'll assume he was stage 1 since he went straight to surgery... that is nice. And if true, the odds of him seeing his EC again are very small... and not like us stage 3's and 4's. I'm in the statistical group that only 20% of us will make it to 5 years post-op. But at 3 years now, my odds are improving.
And yes... the first year post-op we all tend to eat a bit robotically... things are not the same as before cancer. But one day eating will once again become pleasurable... i promise. Just gonna be another year or so. We eat smaller amounts and more often. We eat to survive for now and force our bodies to make the necessary changes. So he won't feel hunger like he used to... but that will change as the months and years roll by. I couldn't swallow peas in my broth at 6 months post-op... but my throat (at the anastomosis), was crazy tight. After 4 stretches over 4 months... I got back to fairly normal. And I can now sit and eat a McDonald's sausage Mcmuffin and the hash browns and drink most of the orange juice... all in one 15 minute sitting. Crazy I know, when I think back to not being able to swallow peas, even if I chewed them!
So... 4 months post-op is still crazy early on. I just kept shoveling food in... and let my body slowly figure things out. Because I wasn't changing! So my tummy hurt a lot, for a long time. And my ass exploded a lot and it seemed like softer poops and diarrhea for like forever. But things slowly changed. So you don't get depressed... you hang in there... and wait for it. It is a tough journey.
Guess we're done now... CAUSE I HATE TYPING!
Be well.