Esophagectomy and stomach pull up

Hello,

That your friend is stage I is great news.  That gives him the best shot to beat the cancer and hopefully avoid recurrences.  A bit of nervousness/anxiety is perfectly normal when thinking about the surgery.  It is, in fact, a major big deal surgery.  Hopefully, your friend is at a hospital that does the procedure laproscopically instead of the open procedure.  That really reduces the recovery both in time and intensity.  Either way, though, there are a few things that most people run into.  First thing he'll notice is that he won't be able to eat as much as he used to eat.  He'll likely have reflux and will have to sleep in an inclined position.  Some foods may hit him differently than they used to.  That's a trial and error type of thing to see what foods may cause him reflux or dumping.  

It takes a couple/few months of recovery to get back to functional and perhaps upwards of a year until he's back to full strength.  Like I said, it's a major big deal.  But it is a doable thing.  Many folks have had successful surgery and gone on to live full lives.  I'm 12 years out from the surgery and have had two recurrences.  I eat and drink whatever I want in whatever quantities I want.  I do still have to sleep in an elevated position.  As far as encouraging your friend to have the surgery, there are a lot of people who wish they were able to have it but are not eligible because their cancer is too advanced.  Your friend is in the early stages and is lucky to have found it so early.  Most EC cases don't show symptoms until it gets diagnosed at much later stages.  

Best Wishes for your friend,

Ed

Hi,  I has this surgery in October 2020. It's been 9 weeks. They err unable to get all the cancer.  It still is present in my stomach. Im thankful they didn't take all my stomach along with the esophegectomy.  

It's life changing for the worse. I'm back on a more aggressive chemo treatment.

I had this same surgery in 2017. All but 4 inches of my esophagus was removed, and 2/3 of my Stomach removed. I had one surgeon working on my Stomach and another working on my esophagus. The surgeon explained to me that correct order of precedence is Surgery, Chemo, then Radiation. If you were to have the Radiation treatment first it would have fused all 3 layers of the Esophagus which would eliminate the Chemo, then Surgery if you had to have them done at a later date. This was not a piece of cake. The Surgeon told me the Colon Cancer that I had in 2009 is a walk in the Park when compared to the Esophagus and Stomach Cancer surgery. He was 100% correct. However, what is the alternative? So I lost some of my taste, can't eat much, and without warning sometimes I will upchuck after eating. I still sometimes bloat after I eat. I have a lot of pain from my Colon Cancer and Esophagus surgery, but this is managed with pain medicine. Also, lost some feeling in my legs due to the surgery. I believe anyone considering this procedure should be aware of all the complications and side effects.

Chris C.

Hello Dawna,

I had chemo/radiation, an esophajectomy and then bonus chemo my first time with stage III EC in 2008. In 2011, I had a recurrence in a lung. Surgery and radiation weren't options, so it was just chemo. I was very fortunate that the chemo worked and I'm still here to tell my story. In 2018/19, I had another recurrence in the same lung. Again stage IV. Again terminal. Surgery was the only option and they removed half a lung. Again, I was fortunate that the surgery was successful and I'm still here to talk about it.

The 2nd and 3rd times didn't offer any options for treatment, I just had to do what my doctor (she's very, very good at what she does) recommended. That's where you seem to be. An esophajectomy (I'm assuming this is the surgery you're talking about) is a big deal, it's not some minor procedure. It takes a while to fully recover, but every day that you're alive to complain about how much it sucks is a day that you're alive. View that as a win. That's the position this disease puts people in. You have no idea exactly how much you are able to endure until you have no choice except to endure what's in front of you.

All the Best,

Ed

I was diagnosed with Esophageal Adenocarcinoma (EAC) in 2011. The cancer , about the size of a quarter, was found during a non related endoscopy that also found a bleeding ulcer. There were no symptoms of cancer. I was treated through the VA medical system. The cancer was found in stage one but had advanced to stage two before VA approval for the treatment was given. The initial proposed treatment was to use two surgeons that do 4 to 8 operations a year outsourced to a non VA hospital after lengthy back and forth and some political intervention I was allowed to be treated at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, AZ. I am pursuing an Agent Orange connection.

I was fortunate enough to get an excellent Surgeon and his staff that does eighty EA surgeries a year.

First step in my case was surgery, then chemotherapy and finally radiation in conjunction with more chemo. Most of the esophagus was removed leaving the top 3"-4" and by removing 1/3 of my stomach essentially narrowing the top portion of the stomach to replace what was removed from the esophagus.

The operation required an incision on the left side of my throat (so the stomach could be pulled up and connected to the remaining portion of the esophagus. The incision to remove the portion of the stomach was from the navel to the bottom of the rib cage. I had a problem swallowing due to the throat incision and a balloon was used to stretch opening in the throat. that solved the issue. One lymph node closest to where the cancer was found had three cancerous cells were removed.

MY doctor said he got all of the cancer but recommended Chemo and radiation. My thoughts were if i didn't follow his recommendation and the carcinoma returned it would have been my decision that was to blame. As it turns out it I followed his recommendations and I've been cancer free for eleven years.

I have to sleep on my back or I get what tastes like bile but heartburn less than ten times in 11 years. I don't have to elevate the head of my bed either. My bathroom habits have also been affected and I go the bathroom more often than before and the stools are looser, but not like diarrhea.

The comments referring to the VA are intended to help Veterans and Dependents and not be disparaging to the Veterans Administration. Don't give up when dealing with them sometimes you have to be a Bulldog. I'm Army but I thought my Marine buddies would appreciate the reference.

I believe owe the VA my life.

how do you handle having a MRI WITH LAYING FLAT?

I was diagnosed with stage 2 adenocarcinoma of lower escophagus in September 2020. Had 2 month of chemo then radiation and chem for 5 weeks then esophagus and a third of stomach removed in April 2021. Pain was always managed very well by my doctors and home care R.Ns help. Food choices were very limited at first and I had some abdominal discomfort after eating. I lost about 60 pounds in first 6 months after surgery due to small meals and no appetite. It was ok since I was over weight and weight is now stable. At about 9 months my discomfort ended and I manage my small meal pretty well now. So far so good at 11 months post surgery. I am also taking Opdivo infusions every two weeks for one year which will end in June. My cost is $1150 each infusion until I max out my out of pocket insurance copay. That's being paid for out of my retirement savings. Oh well.

FYI I started getting my energy back after about 6 weeks and one good thing is that I have never felt hunger since my surgery so I really don’t miss eating like before. Eating healthy has become pretty easy although I do still have a sweet tooth. My GI doctor helped me with meds when I was having abdominal pains as I added foods to my diet in those first 6 months. Now I only take Pantoprazole before dinner and a Pepcet before bed.

I didn’t have a feeding tube. I Never get that feeling in my stomach of hunger. No physical clue that it’s time to eat. It’s not a problem, just an observation. It will be a year since my surgery in April.

Dear Barbara, thank you for sharing your journey I am still having a hard time adjusting. I am 67 and still always tired. I am 4 months out from surgery hoping for the best