Anyone having excessive mucous problems following surgery .

I'm having the same thing, excessive mucous. Wake up coughing, gagging, heaving, but only long stringy mucous comes up--then weak and washed out. This started about 5 days ago and am on my 3rd week of radiation, of 5 days/week, for 5 weeks. No chemo, no surgery. Hubby bought me Mucinex; did get a huge pill down--no difference--but looking today for liquid form....if radiation doctor we meet with today thinks it would help.
My theory is the body is trying to protect the esophagus lining from The Burn. The other crazy thing is, if I can't get rid of The Burn, I get a pain in chest and travels through throat, through mastoid bones to sinuses and top of head for an excruciating headache. Last week doctor put me on a 2nd omeprozole. Took it earlier than before bed, and I could feel the headache dissipating through mastoid bones. Sorry for the graphic description; most of us don't have weak stomachs at this point. Oh, and my tumors are also in the stomach, 10" long.

Here’s a couple studies I read about an intervention (molecular hydrogen) that has been shown to improve quality of life for cancer patients. Maybe there’s something in there.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10152878/#:~:text=Molecular%20hydrogen%20(H2)%20has%20been,apoptotic%20and%20anti%2Dtumoural%20effects.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2019.00696/full

I’m so sorry you are having this problem! My mom has been dealing with spitting up the same constant, thick stringy mucous as you described. She’s been spitting it up since about May and has since then completed her chemo and radiation treatments. Now just waiting for a new scan to see where she’s at with the tumor. We were hoping if the tumor shrunk, and the mucous could go down instead of up, or it would subside/stop altogether but no luck. It’s been 6 weeks since last radiation Tx. She can’t get a full sentence out without having to spit. It’s miserable and I know you must be exhausted doing it all the time. Praying you can find something that helps!

After esophageal stent placement my husband had to spit up or retch up mucus every 10 minutes. Because of this and extreme pain his stent was removed and g-tube place. Stent removal helped significantly. We are only 2 weeks post diagnosis. Very new to all this, but appreciated the comments to validate that this is serious problem for some.

My mother had it after and during radiation and it eventually went away.

@wdill and others, you may also find this related discussion helpful:
- Excessive Mucus with Esophageal Cancer https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/excessive-mucus-with-esophageal-cancer/

@justtrust, clinical journal articles like these are exciting. But it's important to read the details and understand the process and timing of clinical trials. In these papers, hydrogen gas (formula: H2) is emerging as potentially having bioactivities that MAY be effective as an anti-cancer agent. As yet it shows promise only in test tube (in vitro) and mice or rats (in vivo) testing. More study is required in human clinical trials to confirm its efficacy.

You can learn more about types of clinical trials and the phases of human clinical trials here:
- About Clinical Trials https://www.mayo.edu/research/clinical-trials/about-clinical-studies

@kdietrich, it must be so hard to see him in pain and uncomfortable. How is your husband doing with the g-tube? What treatment will he have?

Thank you for asking. G- tube has been great and is saving his life at present. Pending chemotherapy and immunotherapy next week. This is an overwhelming disease that presents with daily challenges, but I am grateful to see stories of how others are fighting this disease.