Hubby home have questions

RKMikulski · May 2013

After 9 days we are home. Ivor Lewis is no walk in the park. He has a lot of swelling in legs and feet. This started before we left the hospital. trying not to be concerned. Also dressing over chest tube holes leaks a lot. Again doctors knew this as well. Again we are still worried. Anyone else have these issues. Other than that he is doing very well. He eats very small portions numerous times a day with jtube feelings at night. I want to thank everyone for the prayers it worked

FunGuy · May 2013

I only had the partial

I only had the partial esophgectomy and I've been 4 1/2 years removed from my first surgery. The first advice I can give you if to take everything slowwwwwww. As frustrating as it may seem, don't rush anything especially food and drink. You have the rest of your life to think about so don't risk damaging anything further.

paul61 · May 2013

I did have some swelling in my legs shortly after surgery

I also have some swelling in my legs after my Ivor Lewis surgery. It was while I was still in the hospital. When they originally saw the swelling they did an ultrasound of my legs to insure it was not a blood clot. Once they were satisfied there was not a blood clot, they just told my wife and I to keep an eye on it, and report back if it became worse. It resolved itself a few days after I got home. I tried to do a little bit of walking around the house when I got home. Not much because I became short of breath very quickly for the first couple of weeks. But I think increasing the circulation in my legs helped the swelling go down. I also had some drainage from my incisions when I first got home. That also got better in a week or so.

I hope your surgeon has arranged to have a home health care professional come to your home periodically to change dressings and take vital signs. I think my nurse came every other day for the first week and then every three days for about a month after I was discharged from the hospital. If this has not been done you may wish to talk to your surgeon’s office to see if this can be arranged. I know it made my wife and me more comfortable the first couple of weeks to know a health care professional would be checking in periodically to examine wounds and check for issues.

Recovery does take time, Ivor Lewis is MAJOR surgery. But things do get better as each day goes along. I also had some issues with dumping syndrome early on. If your husband encounters the same issues tell him not to be concerned that too improves with time.

Best Regards,

Paul Adams

McCormick, South Carolina

DX 10/2009 T2N1M0 Stage IIB - Ivor Lewis Surgery 12/3/2009 - Post Surgery Chemotherapy 2/2009 – 6/2009

Cisplatin, Epirubicin, 5 FU - Three Year Survivor

paul61 · May 2013

Feel free to call

Sometimes when you have a significant surgery like Ivor Lewis it is helpful to talk to someone who has been through the recovery process as new things crop up. If your husband would like to talk to me about my recovery process send me a CSN mail message and I will send along my phone number.