Mom home less than a week after Trans-Hiatal Esophagectomy

monica_sss
monica_sss Member Posts: 54
in Esophageal Cancer #1
Hi All,

I was shocked when I got the call that Mom was being discharged. Her surgery lasted less than 5 hours. Today she is very happy to be home, but she is extremely short of breath. I'm wondering if shortness of breath is a common side effect. She had daily chest scans and there is no sign of pneumonia, but she is having difficulty with the smallest of tasks. There is another thread about this, but she is having lots of coughing too (which I guess is normal). Now that we're over the hump of surgery I feel like a new set of symptoms are setting in. Pathology report comes in tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Comments

  • TerryV
    TerryV Member Posts: 887
    #2
    Fingers, toes, legs & eyes crossed for your mom!
    What an amazing recovery to be discharged to quickly! Blessings to your Mom!

    We will be crossing everything and praying with you. Anxious to hear good news.

    {hugs}

    Terry
  • captdave
    captdave Member Posts: 153
    #3
    great news about your moms
    great news about your moms discharge! i had some shortness of breath when I first got home and thought I could do more that I really could. I found that walking for exercise daily really helped build up my endurance and lung capacity. It takes some time to build up your stamina after you get home. I wanted to go full tilt when I got home but my body and my wife reminded me that I'd just had major surgery and still had a lot of healing to do before I'd be 100 percent. It's a slow steady process. Then all the sudden one day you realize your not coughing or short of breath and your doing things you used to do prior to surgery.

    Will be praying for your moms path results!

    Dave
  • Heeran
    Heeran Member Posts: 171
    #4
    Yes, that seems like a speed
    Yes, that seems like a speed discharge but hurray for a speedy recovery. The shortness of breath should get better and better. I would bug the hell out of the nurse and doctor if you have even the littlest of concerns.
  • monica_sss
    monica_sss Member Posts: 54
    #5
    Heeran said:

    Yes, that seems like a speed
    Yes, that seems like a speed discharge but hurray for a speedy recovery. The shortness of breath should get better and better. I would bug the hell out of the nurse and doctor if you have even the littlest of concerns.

    spoke too soon
    It was too good to be true, she was admitted today due to pouring from the incision site. And I mean even projectile discharge. It was awful. She's on 3 different antibiotics now. Thank you for your good wishes.
  • cindyhils
    cindyhils Member Posts: 27
    #6
    shortness of breath.
    so happy to hear she is home. i did have a lot of coughing for the first few months. as for the shortness of breath, i remember being upset that i could barely walk down the hall to the bathroom and have to stop to breath. it takes awhile to get that back. I know pushing myself a little more each day really helped me. good luck down the road... CIndy
  • JReed
    JReed Member Posts: 428
    #7
    monica_sss said:

    spoke too soon
    It was too good to be true, she was admitted today due to pouring from the incision site. And I mean even projectile discharge. It was awful. She's on 3 different antibiotics now. Thank you for your good wishes.

    Oh No!
    So glad you guys were on top of this and we'll be anxiously awaiting to hear how she is doing. I know they are always so happy to get to go home, but this surgery is so big - I don't think they are kept long enough. On the other hand, some of the superbugs that linger around in these hospitals is scary too. It's a difficult call to make for sure. We will pray for your mom and hope that this situation turns around very quickly for her. This must be so scary for you, and I know you are glad she's getting the attention she needs for this. When you get a chance, please let us know how she is doing.

    Hugs,
    Judy

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