How have others found the return to eating post esophageal surgery?

@deemold
I had a similar situation - 54 Yr old at time of surgery - 8/19/2025 - tumor at esophageal stomach junction, Folfox5 chemo no radiation due to a possible heart issue, had Ivor Lewis procedure and was in the hospital for only 6 days. returned home on liquid diet with J tube feeding... that is garbage nutrition in my opinion and I could not wait to get off of it as my diet is extremely low/no carb. swallowing sometime is still rough, but seldom and only one or two swallows. I have not had dumping issues, but I am surprised at the small volume of food I can eat compared to what I used to eat. I will be starting immunotherapy within a few weeks - Keytruda - after PET and CT scans showed no evidence of disease but the Signatera labs show an upward trend over the last two tests .53 MTM/mL to 1.97 MTM/mL ...and we will see how that goes... I know it has only been 8 months post op for me, but I am confident I will get back to "normal" whatever that is after this surgery... dilation procedures for me so far have not been discussed but I am learning about this.

@leilac - I am so happy to hear you are doing well. AND- so nice to hear from another "atypical age and lifestyle" person...it was such a mind blowing thing to be dx with this. It sounds like you have been through the ringer!
I am doing better with the strictures- some tightening being noticed, but not severe enough yet for another dilation.
Bigger issue right now is/was my immunotherapy- we finally made the call to discontinue after 3 months due to the side effects being too severe (and not reversible....that was fun to learn).
The learning curve continues.

@deemold
Hi
Just wondering how you are getting on now? I had my surgery about a month before you. I am also younger for this cancer, 44 when diagnosed. Dont drink ir smoke and regularly excercise at the gym and swim, eat very healthily, so was absolutely shocked when it was found after 4 months of very painful chest and reduced eating as a result.
I had chemo , surgery then radiation.
Unfortunately I got an infection in my throat incision, so had to have a jj tube for feeding for 6 months post surgery.
When that healed and I tried to eat, I had a stricture! What a pain! I also got regular dilations, but they couldn't stretch enough, so got a temporary stent, which was AMAZING! Could eat most things and no regurgitation, what a dream. It couldn't stay forever, so came out, but stretched the tube well. I still get dilations every 6 weeks, as theres a bit of a kink in the tube which needs to be straightened out. But I can now eat much more, and only feel sick if I eat too much, quickly, dont chew my food enough (regurgitation) or eat sugary stuff or coffee on an empty stomach.
I hope you are doing okay or better now 😀
Leila

4.5 years since esophajectomy.
80% of Esophagus and 1/2 stomach removed.
I’ve found it kind of strange that I am able to drink 2-6 beers, and then be able to eat a normal amount of food. Helps me feel normal every now and then.

@jimbon, to read another member's profile, simply click on their username. You can find more useful tips on how to use the site in the Help Center here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/help-center/

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Hey Scott thanks for your reply, lol trying to find your,post to see what your situation is,would deff like to share some stuff with ya new to the site and still fig it out,gonna sit down this afternoon and learn lil more,of what im doing.🤣

Hello Jim, My name Scott and I have delt with everything that you've mentioned and feel that I can help. Feel free to reach out if you would like and read my profile to see what I mean.

Jim here,just getting site fig out,diagnosed, stage 1 still in esphogus only,last nov of 24,did 6 chemos and 28 radiation last Christmas, showed gone but opted for surgery April of 25,been crazy ever since, dumping syndrome, terrible non stop belching lost 20 lbs,never used feeding tube so deff a plus,also delayed dumping syndrome from to many carbs then dumps to much insulin and surgery can be at 50,dizzy shakes confused for period of time,but worse of all is bile acid pukey coming up at night even on elevated bed,cant get rid of taste for hrs,even with gaviscon, gargle salt water,nothing seems work,then the other day it happened during day while in sitting position, deff wonder if surgery was worth it?? Sorry for ranting ,deff life changing stuff,65 years old thanks for reading..

Update- turns out the issue was a stricture that got significantly worse after that post...but now that we know the cause I have had one repeat EGD to dilate, next dilation scheduled for 12/29 as they could not safely widen it in one attempt due to risk of tearing something.
It's a bit of an odd coincidence in that I originally thought I had a stricture back in June and my initial EGD to fix that was how they found I had cancer....in some ways I have now come full circle!
Progress not perfection.

It gets better! The first few weeks were tough. I followed guidelines exactly though and was able to sail through. Softer foods, no nuts or crusty breads or anything that can scratch. Dr. Bowers at Mayo Jax did the surgery and gave excellent care instructions.