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Looking for others' experiences with Esophageal Cancer treatments
Esophageal Cancer | Last Active: Sep 9, 2023 | Replies (98)Comment receiving replies
Zzonner,
I am so very impressed with your uplifting attitude!!!! So important to keep positive.
I had esophagectomy surgery April, 2020 @ Mayo / Rochester. I was suppose to be in the hospital for 1 week but I contracted an infection in one of my drainage tubes and had to stay an additional week. My husband was so relieved. HaHa. Poor guy was worried about being an at home nurse.
I had the invasive surgery (don't remember now the technical term). They removed my esophagus and stretched my stomach up and attached to the remaining esophagus. Was a huge success!!! I had a J tube (feeding tube) in my intestine. No food or drink at all via mouth. Meds were crushed & dissolved in water then inserted into tube. Piece of cake really once you get the hang of it.
That really was the only hard thing about the whole experience was nothing in the mouth as my mouth and throat got so dry. You will be fine as it sounds like you are already the epitome of health & physical strength and have an excellent support system!!!! Just remember this is a big surgery and you NEED to give yourself time to heal and rest. Do not push it. Your body will tell you what you need to know if you pay attention. And don't be afraid to utilize them pain meds, they gave them to you for a reason. If your in pain, take them.
Good luck & prayers going out to you,
Lori
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Hi there, Lori,
I’m so glad your surgery went so well. I’ve noticed on this forum that people talked about eating so many foods, and being prepared for the surgery, but I’m struggling to see how they did it. My husband’s tumor is in his lower third of his esophagus, and after the 28 days of radiation it is pretty fried. He still cannot swallow without extreme pain. He barely can swallow saliva. He cannot even have a sip of water. He has had nothing by mouth for the past five weeks now. He is feeding himself and giving hydration purely by his PEG tube. He manages it all himself now, which is great. However, we have had a kink in our plans for surgery. The stress echocardiogram showed that he has many probable blockages in his heart. If we do an angiogram and proceed with stents, he will have to go on blood thinners, which would be detrimental to stop if you were to stop in for a surgery like the esophagectomy. Extremely high risk either way. The cardiologist wants to wait until the surgeon is aware of his report. We will speak to the UCLA surgeon on Thursday. We could proceed to fix his heart, whether it needs stents or bypass surgery. But this may eliminate the esophagectomy. At least at this time. It would be one thing, if my husband could swallow and eat food and continuous somewhat normal life. But this year threw a kink in it.
As far as gaining his strength back for surgery, he has no stamina, but he’s trying to gain it a little bit. We are not sure if it’s his normal weakness after chemo and radiation or is his heart unable to stand any type of exercise. As far as we know, he did not have any heart issues prior to this. we are questioning whether it’s the chemo or radiation that may have damaged his heart. He is trying to use weight bands to gain some tone and his muscles of his arms and he can tolerate 15 minutes of that per day right now. He’s only 57 years old! We have some major choices to make I guess in the near future. We are praying for the Lord‘s healing and strength and wisdom at this time.