After MIE ?'s

snook717
snook717 Member Posts: 45
in Esophageal Cancer #1
Was wondering if some can share their experience after MIE surgery? I know a couple of u had surgery within days of my gpa may 16 and was wondering how u r doing? My gpa is doing well he goes back next week for his first check up after the MIE. Is there a chance the feeding and drainage tubes will b taken out? My grandma has been concerned with how much pain meds he should b on at this point and is trying to ween him off and give him Tylenol instead. The nurse said the pain meds can make u grumpy and short tempered after a while and he has been somewhat that way lately. Also how soon after surgery where u able to eat your new normal diet? Can anyone share their exp so i can share with my gpa thanks so much!!

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  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #2
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  • Alaska_Kim
    Alaska_Kim Member Posts: 34
    #3
    Post MIE
    My husband is 8 weeks out from MIE surgery. He didn't get the small drain tube out until his first follow up visit 7 days after discharge. He still has his J-tube while doing chemo and because his new esophagus started closing up around week 5. He has a follow up dilation tomorrow, but we think there will be another in his future as he has noticed that it is again feeling constricted (GI doc was conservative and didn't stretch as much as he could have). Hopefully, he gets the full dilation because he is sick and tired of smooth liquids and supplemental night feedings through the J-tube. He was doing great with most foods, in very, very small portions up to this point. We called him an over achiever because he kept jumping over my carefully planned transition food plan. As for pain meds, he was off hydrocordone by the 2nd week out of the hospital with minor exceptions such as after trying to lift when he shouldn't and the long plane ride home from the hospital. He was taking Lyrica for nerve pain, but finished that up last week. He said he doesn't really notice a difference (more or less pain) since he stopped so we think it was time. He is taking Ambien at night and I've noticed that when he doesn't, he is super grumpy the next day because he was up most of the night "thinking". This is all still messing with his head and the Ambien has helped him keep the worry out of his sleep. Hope this helps ambit. Good luck with grandpa, it does get better as his body heals. Kim

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