Post Esophagectomy

Hi, thank you for replying. yes, gastroenterologist did the dilation & nothing shows up. I wondered if the damaged vocal cord could be causing issues. Hoping for some answers with the CT on Friday. Thanks again!

Thank you very much for sharing the details here. I am worried about the surgery too and have been asking if there is any way to avoid the surgery - the response has been no - if we see it we have to take it out. These insights are helpful to get prepared

If your husband is attempting to go back to three "normal" sized meals a day that will not work. He needs to eat six or seven very small amounts a day to get the calories he needs. It took most of us about 8 months until the early "feeling full" and bloated feeling after eating started to get better. Here is a typical diet and schedule for me:

7:00 AM. 1 cup of coffee and 1 piece of toast with peanut butter

8:30 AM. ½ cup of cereal with milk

10:30 AM. 8 oz smoothie with 1 banana, 4 large frozen strawberries, 1 tablespoon of protein powder, 1 tablespoon of chia seeds, and my daily vitamins ground up in the smoothie (I find my daily multivitamin, calcium, and vitamin D are large tablets and hard to swallow, so I grind them up in my smoothie. They do not seem to affect the taste of the smoothie)

11:30 AM. Drink large glass of water

12:00 Noon ½ ham and cheese sandwich with handful of potato chips. With Diet Coke

1:30 PM. Small snack with mixed nuts or crackers and cheese with Diet Coke

5:00 PM. Small dinner of meat, vegetable, and ½ dinner roll (I find it best if this meal is not larger than the space of ½ of a dinner plate. Meat serving should not be larger than the palm of my hand and about half a cup of vegetables. (I find setting my fork down between bites slows me down enough so I don’t choke while swallowing and gives me time to insure a chew thoroughly prior to swallowing).

6:00 PM Drink large glass of water.

7:00 PM. 1 apple peeled and cut into sections

8:00 PM. ½ cup of ice cream (You may have to substitute frozen yogurt for the ice cream for the first couple of months after your surgery because most esophagectomy survivors are VERY sensitive to sugar - think DUMPING SYNDROME)

Bedtime is 12:00 Midnight

I am 14 years out from surgery. I can pretty much eat everything; but moist foods like soups and gravies are easier to swallow than things like dry chicken or rice. (Beware of foods that tend to expand in your stomaphagus like pasta and rice. I find it is best to eat small bites and chase it down with just a sip of liquid to help swallow. I try to drink as little as possible with meals. I have learned there is a limited amount of space in my stomaphagus; so the choice is between liquid or solid foods.

I find if I eat many small meals, I generally feel better. I have to make time to drink water between meals and drink very little with meals. Just small sips to help with swallowing.

It took over a year for my digestive system to settle into a routine. Frequent dumping episodes the first 8 months after surgery.

I still have occasional late dumping episodes that present with feelings of weakness, shakiness and nausea. These hypoglycemic episodes are resolved quickly by eating a package of peanut butter crackers that I carry with me if I am out of the house.

Best Regards,

Paul