esophageal stricture

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tomswift
tomswift Member Posts: 8 Member
in Esophageal Cancer #1

Hello, i'm a 53 yr old male. Was diagnosed with stage 2b esophageal cancer in April 2019. Did chemo & radiation treatment for about 3 months. In September 2019 i had an esophagectomy and a feeding j tube installed. Less than a week later, while still in hospital recoverying on clear diet a fistula opened up in my esophagus. The clear diet was stopped and only fed through my j tube. Doc put stent in my esophagus and suggested we wait and see if the fistula would heal on its own. Three + months later the fistula hadn't healed. In january 2020 i had another surgery to fix the fistula. The surgery went well and i was back on an oral diet. I progressed quickly from a clear diet to eating pretty much whatever i wanted and my j tube was removed. Other than some occasional dumping snydrome from over eating, i was doing good with my diet. Fast forward to last week, i started slightly noticing some discomfort when eating. I at first chalked it up to being a lousy cook and eating too fast. But now the discomfort while eating is becoming obvious. The food isn't being swallowed as easily as before and feeling full much faster. After doing some googling, i diagnosed myself with a stricture in my esophagus. I fear this is just the begining of the stricture and it will most likely get worse. The info i found stated that the stricure is one of the most common complications and usually appears around 10 weeks after surgery, which is exactly about where i'm at. I'll be calling my doc monday. In the meanwhile maybe someone here has some experience with strictures... Happy Easter

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  • paul61
    paul61 Member Posts: 1,391 Member
    #2
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    Dilation is common after surgery

    Hi Tom,

    I have no personal experience with strictures but the need for dilation of the esophagus to deal with swallowing difficulties if fairly common after surgery. Dilation is normally a straightforward process. Your surgeon might be a little reluctant to do a dilation since you had a fistula, and he may be concerned about the strength of the tissue in your anastomosis.

    I would suggest you post your question in the esophageal cancer section of “Smart Patients” https://www.smartpatients.com/. You will find several folks there who have had strictures and had sometimes several dilations to resolve the issue.

     

    Best Regards,

     

    Paul A

     

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