I’ve had one chemo out of 5 and will have my 3 of 25 proton radiation treatments this am. I will have an esophagectomy 6 weeks after these treatments end.
Liked by Colleen Young, Connect Director
So far no nausea from the chemo and beginning to feel some pain when swallowing. Actually this am when drinking some water, I did experience some swallowing difficulty. I’ve completed 3/5 chemo therapy treatments and 13/25 proton radiation treatments. I wonder how much difficulty I will have swallowing as I continue these treatments.
I’m having an esophagectomy in April for stage 2 esophageal cancer-(adenocarcinoma). Though I was initially staged a t2n1, my thoracic surgeon calls it stage 3. I would welcome survivors of this cancer and surgery to connect with me to give me all the information they’d like to share about their journey with this cancer and life after an esophagectomy.
Hi Colleen,
Thx for asking! I am one month and 4 days post surgery and have been home since April 22. I’m on a feeding tube and am gradually weening off from 7 cartons and am now down to 2 per day. I’m also on a regular diet and am trying to eat 6 small meals per day. I’m only down 6lbs from my admission weight to the hospital but eating when I’m not hungry is going to be very challenging going forward. I’ve had no issues with dumping syndrome only some spasms in my new esophagus and a little rapid heartbeat for a short time.
I have had an unproductive cough since surgery and have been reading this is a common symptom with EC surgery which some say should go away within a month to longer. I am walking daily 1-1 1/2 miles per day plus doing flexibility exercises daily and strength training with bands 3 days per week per instruction from St. Mary’s Respiratory therapy program.
I am still fatigued but do take my daily nap. I’m sleeping better @ night(not on pain meds)now that I have no pain in my right shoulder area.
Check up coming up in a couple of weeks to have the feeding tube removed, some testing and hopefully I am on the slow road to recovery. I’ll remain hopeful and thankful for how far I’ve come.
Liked by Colleen Young, Connect Director
@colleenyoung
Hi @puprluvr and welcome to Connect. You'll notice that I moved your message to the Head & Neck Cancer groups where you'll meet others talking about esophageal cancer like @karly @nowayback @trudivo @angelag and @ssimons
I invite you to explore the other discussions in the Head & Neck Cancer group here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/head-neck-cancer/tab/discussions/
For example:
– Trach after esophageal cancer https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/trach-after-esophageal-cancer/
– Oesophageal tumour https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/oesophageal-tumour/
– Esophageal cancer….transitioning to food https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/esophageal-cancer-transitioning-to-food/
Puprluvr Did you have surgery? How are you feeling after completing chemo?