gain weight

franta
franta Member Posts: 1
in Esophageal Cancer #1

Hi,

New member on board from Toronto Canada.T3N3

Diagnosed August 2012; after 9 weeks of Chemo; esophagectomy November 21st (75% removed); waiting for the second Chemo.

I lost a lot of weight (orig. 200; now 123) and I have problem to start getting it back. I ha J-tube but had problem to use the formula (crumbs and pain); finally we removed it last week.

Any suggestion for the weight gain?

Comments

  • sandy1943
    sandy1943 Member Posts: 824
    #2
    Welcome, Not good that you

    Welcome, Not good that you are here, but we are glad you found us.

    What kind of surgery did you have? I had the Ivor Lewis which has a longer recovery time. I lost 99 pds, after surgery.Even when I was eating good I kept losing. That was five years ago. I have gained 14 pds. back-still skinny but very healthy. So the weight loss does have its benefits.

    Try drinking carnation breskfasts with added ingredients, Milk Shakes, Ensure between meals.Smoothes with fruits and extra fiber also can help. I tried it all and kept losing. The doctors said it must be a change in my metabolism. It was discouraging, but I now feel great.

    Good luck,

    Sandra

  • kaimai
    kaimai Member Posts: 3
    #3
    Gaining weight

    Hi, I had the Ivor Lewis 2 years ago. I worked really hard to keep weight on while I had chemotherapy and radiotherapy and then again aftrer the surgery. I pretty much ate as often as I could and tried to aim for healthy but high calorie food. I ate a lot of peanuts actually, bags of them! Unsalted of course but I found them to be oily when chewed and therefore easy to swallow, lots of calories and good for the heart! Even if you can just add healthy oils to your everyday food and boost the calories...it took a little while for my body to settle and weight to go on but it did and I am back to pre treatment weight. Good luck, persevere and you will find something that works for you.

  • Rickyr1219
    Rickyr1219 Member Posts: 53
    #4
    I too Lost Weight because stomach slow to empty

    I had my Esophogectomy  Nov 14th 2012.  When I had my leak test it indicated that my stomach was slow to empty and they would just follow it and see how I did.  I continued to wean myself off of J Tube feedings and tried really hard to make up the calories with food but I was not able to keep food down when I ate very much at all and it took a long time (hours) for the feeling to go away so I could eat another meal. I went back to MD Anderson Jan 4th in hopes of getting the J Tube removed but they have left it in and they will do another Endoscopy on me tomorrow (Jan 8).

    The plan is to inject Botox?? or something to relax the bottom part of my stomach to see if they can get it to empty into the intestine quicer which should allow me to eat more often.  When I was diagnosed with EC I was around 265 to 269 lbs.  I was 225 this morning. Only sugggestion I can give is to eat as often as you are able and make them quality calories.

Discussion Boards