Esophageal cancer now in the lining of the lung

Stardee
Stardee Member Posts: 2
in Esophageal Cancer #1

my dad was diagnosed last January with stage 3 esophageal adinocarcinoma.  Started chemo and then radiation...could not eat anything so they put in a peg tube. (Went to the ER twice with problems with this and they sent him home saying nothing was wrong). (They said the cause of his initial cancer was Barrett's esophageous from acid reflux). He had an esophagectomy may 4, 2014 and the surgeon said he got all of the cancer including the lymph nodes that looked suspect.  He also said that there was a horrible infection from the peg tube and evidence that the peg tube nicaked the colon and he also found a piece of plastic from the procedure. He said my dad should have not made it throught surgery due to so much infection in his stomach.  He made it through, but before this surgery he was very weak and sick and lost about 40 pounds in 2 months.  All in all he went from 240-250 and he now weighs 145-152.  Since the surgery he has been very weak...he has no muscle tone, no fat and he is basically a skeleton with a very thin layer of skin over him.  He had an accident after surgery, he was just starting to feel better and he fell out of his truck and the truck ran over his foot.  This was a MAJOR setback for his recovery.  It took about 2-3 months for this to get him back on track...well so I thought.  He still can not eat very well and he has a lot of gas and bloating anytime he eats anything.  He belches, coughs, dry heaves a LOT.  it has been over 9 months since surgery and he had a PET scan and we went to the surgeons office to get the results.  He said nothing showed up on the scan except his parietal gland and some fluid around his lung.  So in the office they drained off over 1200 ml of fluid to which the doctor said "looks good" and we asked what that meant and he said "it doesn't look cancerous...if it was white and bloody then it would be bad". So we finally got a call saying the fluid had cancer cells in it.  We went to his oncologist and she swaid it was the cancer from the esophageous that is now in the lining of his lungs. Adenocarcinoma. So he will get a catheter in his lungs and a port for chemo (which he starts on Monday) I have been trying to research cancer in the lining of the lungs and I have not had any luck...so I came on here to see if anyone has been through this or has heard of this...?  I know he still has a rough road ahead, but I also want to know if it is normal for him to feel like this almost 10 months post-op? The gas and bloating and losing weight...the doctor said about 6 months to a year, but I thought he would at least feel a little bit better with eating at least.  Also can you give me any tips and/ideas of what he can eat that would maybe cause less boasting or gas? Or to help him gain weight...he is very malnourished and I want him to get healthier so he can withstand the chemo...thanks for reading this...sorry it is so long....thanks in advance for any advice, encouragement, words of wisdom, etc...God bless you all....

Comments

  • paul61
    paul61 Member Posts: 1,392 Member
    #2
    I am so sorry things are not going well for your Dad

    I am sorry things are not going better for your Dad. It sounds like he had some real challenges going into surgery and recovery from this surgery takes a very long time under the best of circumstances. I had Ivor Lewis surgery and it was a full year after my surgery before I felt that I was “recovered”. And even then I had to accept a “new normal” of what I could do in terms of flexibility and stamina.

    Since your Dad has metastasis in his lungs I assume they will start some form of chemotherapy adjusted for his ability to withstand the side effects.

    I had chemotherapy after my surgery as well. I have to say that chemotherapy is particularly difficult while attempting to recover from major surgery. Things I found that were helpful:

      1. I found that it would have been much easier if I had kept the jejunostomy feeding tube (J-tube) that was installed during my surgery. I had my feeding tube removed and staying hydrated and maintaining my weight would have been easier with J-tube support.

      2. I found that forcing myself to eat was always a challenge but that if I ate frequent small meals six or seven times a day and drank high calorie smoothies with protein powder I could get a fair amount of calories in a day.

      3. I found I was very easily dehydrated and the dehydration contributed to nausea and fatigue. I set up a program of IV hydration two days after each infusion with my oncologist. This made a big difference in how I felt. No matter how hard I tried I could not drink enough on my own to stay appropriately hydrated.

     I hope your Dad’s medical team finds an intervention that is effective in addressing your Dad’s metastasis.

     

     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 - Four Year Survivor

     

     

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