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Eating and Esopahgeal Cancer: Anorexia 18 months after Ivan Lewis

Posted by manz @manz, May 13 10:52am

I’m a cancer survivor for 18 months now. I had my j tube removed 3 months after surgery and maintained my weight for a year no problem. Now my weight has dropped another 15 lbs. and can’t gain it back.
I’m able to eat but I have an issue that feels like my esophagus closes up ( it doesn’t) and right after it’s nausea or vomiting. I’ve been diagnosed with anorexia because I can’t get the nutrition I need. It seems to happen when I’m in a stressful situation or a negative thought and most of the time it happens when I’m not eating. Has anyone else gone through this, is it possible that my brain is causing this? At a loss here and tired of losing the food- weight loss game!

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Moderator
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | 6 days ago

Wow, @manz. I'm so sorry that your inability to keep food down has led to the diagnosis of anorexia. I'm tagging fellow members like @sjw6358 @edward40 @cbnova @atafitness @socalkelly to share their experiences.

Manz, you mention that you are especially prone to nausea and vomiting when you are stressed or have negative thoughts, not necessarily when you are eating.

Have you thought of working with an oncology social worker or therapy on mindfulness or cognitive behavior tactics to help?

REPLY
2 replies
sjw6358 | @sjw6358 | 6 days ago
In reply to @colleenyoung "Wow, @manz. I'm so sorry that your inability to keep food down has led to the..." + (show)
@colleenyoung

Wow, @manz. I'm so sorry that your inability to keep food down has led to the diagnosis of anorexia. I'm tagging fellow members like @sjw6358 @edward40 @cbnova @atafitness @socalkelly to share their experiences.

Manz, you mention that you are especially prone to nausea and vomiting when you are stressed or have negative thoughts, not necessarily when you are eating.

Have you thought of working with an oncology social worker or therapy on mindfulness or cognitive behavior tactics to help?

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REPLY
socalkelly | @socalkelly | 6 days ago

So sorry to hear. Perhaps combining Zofran with your food would help with the nausea/vomiting. My husband had chemo/radiation and as a result had lots of scar tissue in his remaining esophagus (had esophagectomy that removed most of his esophagus). After several scopes and “stretching” the gastroenterologist put a stent in his esophagus. Took a bit to get used to, but once he did, it’s made all the difference in his eating.
Be sure to sit-up while eating and try a short distance walk post eating. Might help settle the food. Good luck!

REPLY
manz | @manz | 4 days ago
In reply to @colleenyoung "Wow, @manz. I'm so sorry that your inability to keep food down has led to the..." + (show)
@colleenyoung

Wow, @manz. I'm so sorry that your inability to keep food down has led to the diagnosis of anorexia. I'm tagging fellow members like @sjw6358 @edward40 @cbnova @atafitness @socalkelly to share their experiences.

Manz, you mention that you are especially prone to nausea and vomiting when you are stressed or have negative thoughts, not necessarily when you are eating.

Have you thought of working with an oncology social worker or therapy on mindfulness or cognitive behavior tactics to help?

Jump to this post

I’m interested in the oncology social worker and seeing if my medical system has one?

REPLY
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