Burping/ belching followed by back pain and chest tighten

Posted by eximbluewhale @eximbluewhale, May 17 5:02am

Hello everyone,

I am seeking guidance regarding my uncle, Mr. Fakruddin (61 years old), who was treated for esophageal cancer with chemoradiation and esophagectomy with gastric pull-through surgery last year.

For the past 15 days, he has been experiencing a new pattern of symptoms mainly between 3 AM and 6 AM:

• Burping/belching starts suddenly
• Followed by chest tightness
• Then pain radiates to the upper back below the neck and sometimes lower back/rib area
• Occasionally the pain shifts toward the chest
• Symptoms occur despite sleeping with head elevation

Recent PET-CT showed:
• T6 and T12 metabolically active vertebral lesions
• Some mediastinal/right retroclavicular lymph node activity
• Rib fracture/inflammatory findings

However:
• Mediastinal lymph node biopsy showed granulomatous inflammation with NO metastasis
• TB testing was negative

Doctors are now considering whether this could be:
• severe reflux/post-esophagectomy changes,
• inflammation,
• thoracic spine-related pain,
or something else.

Has anyone here experienced similar symptoms after esophagectomy/gastric pull-through surgery — especially nighttime burping followed by chest/back pain?

Did reflux or gas ever mimic spine/chest pain for you?

Any similar experiences or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Esophageal Cancer Support Group.

mrgvw | @mrgvw | May 19 2:22am

Sounds like he's early on into his post-op journey... as it takes a good year or two for things to settle in... in terms of digestion getting a bit back to normal, better sleeping, pooping, etc. I know, I've made this journey the past 6 years.

Reflux is nasty for all of us, especially the first year or two. Our Lower Esophageal Sphincter is gone, and the reshaped stomach has been pulled thru the diaphragm and has become our new esophagus. But nothing has changed... our chest is still a low pressure cavity (a vacuum even) to allow our lungs to expand properly... and our abdomen are higher pressure cavities... and this makes liquid and vapor reflux a problem at all times for most of us. So taking our PPIs... maybe some nighttime Gaviscon Advance, and not eating or drinking within hours of bedtime... a necessity for most of us. But still hard to avoid some nighttime reflux. As for all the other symptoms... we see these too... due to our rib penetrations, surgical incisions and scar tissues.

But two things matter now... not seeing any recurrence of our EC... and what QofLife can we achieve post-op. The last one takes a bit... so hang on... more positive changes are still to come... they just come soooo slowly its a bit depressing.
Gary