I do pray his surgery goes well. Which hospital will he have surgery? My husbands oncologist knew that we had to go to UCLA for the surgery and locally even though our city is large with many surgeons. UCLA has some of the best outcomes for this surgery. It takes two surgeons and for him total time was 11 hours. From start to finish. They gave him an epidural for pain. They kept that in for four or five days. In preparation for this surgery, they did a couple echocardiograms that led them to do one more test, which was an angiogram. They found on that that he needed a quadruple bypass. Pretty immediately. So two days later after the angiogram, he had the bypass surgery. That was approximately eight weeks prior to his esophagectomy. It only delayed him for a short time. The surgeons stayed right on track and communicated with each other. So he had the clearance for the esophagectomy which he had on September 28. He had a chest tube out of the right side of his back and he had to go home with a mini chest tube for a few days after. The drainage was still too much to take it out in the hospital. But they said that happens occasionally. Don’t be surprised. they didn’t want him to drink or eat until two weeks after the surgery. So he just started clear liquids like apple juice and Jell-O. They are going down just fine. He has a J-tube that they placed in surgery. That is keeping him fed and hydrated as he trials his new esophagus. He’s finally able to walk around the block now. He got a lot of practice doing that after his bypass surgery. But I do notice he’s a little bit more winded. It all takes time. Constipation may be an issue for a few days in the hospital. But the nurses and doctors will help him with that. The bloatedness was more uncomfortable to my husband. Walk!
My husband was in the hospital for a total of eight days and we stayed at a hotel locally one more day just to get him ready to go home. The positioning on the table in surgery sometimes causes muscular pain. during his first surgery, his left scapular area had a big knot in it. That seem to hurt more than his chest incision. But ice and massaging helped. After this current surgery, his right scapular area hurt with a big knot in it. Same thing. But opposite sides. So he had ice that the entire time in the hospital. He’s better now though.
I pray that your doctors are exceptional, and that your nurses are very knowledgeable in their care. Hang in there. Just take it one day at a time. Praying for you both.
Patti

I know how rough the surgery is. My husband is now three weeks out from his surgery. It was a rough go of it and 8 days in the hospital. Since he has the heart bypass surgery, just seven weeks prior to compare this to, he said, this one was worse. However, the right rib cage, where they did, the thoracotomy is still sore and requires the pain medicine twice a day. But he’s doing rather well. He’s already eating pudding, soups, and cream of wheat, and doing very well. No pain and no regurgitation or anything. He is walking about a half mile twice a day now. I can tell he is a little slower than the first surgery but he’ll get there.
I pray that the surgery went very well, and that he’s just a couple days from discharge. I will continue to pray for him.Blessings, Patti