Anyone experience lung collapse after esophagectomy?

I was in the hospital for nine days following esophagectomy. Everything looked good, but two weeks after I was discharged I had to be re-admitted because I had a persistent dry cough. A CT scan showed that there was a substantial amount of fluid surrounding my left lung. They placed a drain in my side, and over the next two days more than a liter of fluid was drained off. The cough immediately went away, and hasn’t reoccurred in the seven weeks since.

@lindainca Hello I'm glad you feel better. This is recent history, are you only 10 weeks out? Did they say why the fluid built up, was it a leak? do you still have the tube/stent in (are they the same things)? my brothers doing better today 🙂 they think he'll be out of ICU tomorrow. we thought we might loose him. they fixed the leak and put a stent in. they gave him a feeding tube too. the dr. said the leak was so small they had to use a camera. he said it had caused the infection. From what I've read if these leaks are going to happen its usually within two weeks of the surgery and they're the most serious complication. before he had the surgery i had freaked myself out reading about it on dr. google. Everything went so well at first i relaxed... now i kinda feel, ok well we got that monster off the table. lets put it behind us as fast as we can. thank you for writing

@ajax2026 Yes, I’m 10-1/2 weeks out. In my case, I was told the fluid build up was not due to a leak, but the overall trauma of such an extensive surgery. A 12-hour surgery is quite traumatic for sure. When I went back to the hospital for the persistent cough (three weeks after the surgery), they simply placed a drain tube in my side (only under mild sedation and local anesthetic). They removed the drain tube easily the day I was released, with only a quick and painless tug and a light dressing. The wound closed up within two days, and no coughing since then. Best of luck to your brother in his recovery.

@ajax2026 Hi Linda, I had the leak too. It was like a sprinkler and I am not kidding. There was something off when drinking and feeding so they figured I had a leak and sent me for a scan where I had to drink Barium? or some type of contrast liquid while they scanned me and took video. I could see my self on xray while the liquid went down my throat and then out like a sprinkler it was funny and scary at the same time. The leak healed on its own though but I wonder if my stricture was because of the leak or the infection from surgery on mu neck. In any case I am doing great now and I am sure your brother will too. Feel free to contact me if you or your brother need to chat. We can actually talk if you want.

I am glad to help.

Manuel

@manuelo Hi Manuel—Where was the stricture you developed, and how was it treated? Was it at the juncture where the stomach is stretched up and attached to the throat, or lower? Thank you.

Hello. Manuelo. I cant see any of my replies to you i wrote yesterday. I hope you got them 🙂

@lindainca Hi Linda, my stricture developed right nect to my Adams apple where stomach and esophagus were joined. I had to undergo about ten endoscopies to stretch it and it would narrow down again. Finally I got fed up and found out I could do my own “dilations” with a bougie dilator and started doing those on my own. I probably did them for three or four months every other day and now I dont have to.

I can help anyone that wants to do them with valuable tips.

Take care

Well, I can certainly use help. I forewent surgery, so esophagus is still normal length. My stricture is 3 centimeters long, about 1/3 of the way down my esophagus, which is exactly where the tumor was. Left to what it normally wants to do, the residual scar tissue almost closes my esophagus. Mine was almost closed, post-treatment, and the GE doc dilated it to 12 mm. That was near the beginning of November. Last week, it had almost closed and he dilated it to 15 mm and said he'd see me in 3 months. Of course, my first thought was that it would be closed again by then. I had chemo with proton radiation at MD Anderson. Basically, the tumor was replaced with scar tissue. So far, I'm testing cancer-free, but I'm less than a year post-treatment, so I take that with a grain of salt. I had heard of self-dilation, but my gag reflex is the worst my ENT has ever seen. I'd be interested in learning how you overcame that to be able to dilate yourself...

@manuelo Thank you Manuel. That is approximately where my join was done. Before surgery I had a stricture at that point that several times closed to the point I couldn’t even swallow water. They did an endoscopy with dilation each week for three weeks, but it would not stay dilated. They could only dilate it to 8mm max, thus their conclusion that it was time for esophagectomy. I can swallow food pretty well, but it seems like the opening may be narrowing. How do you do a self dilation?

Hi Linda, basically what you do in a self dilation is you stick a silicon tube down your throat and past the point of the stricture. It will make you gag and it is not pleasant at all but once you get the hang of it, it becomes easier. You need to do at least the first dilation with a doctor that has the experience to do it. He also needs to tell you what size dilators you can use. Feel free to contact me if you want to discuss it and I will send you my number so I can give you much more info. It is great to be able to do your own dilation. Take care!

Manuel