Diet after Esophagectomy

Welcome ,You have come to
Welcome ,You have come to the right place to get the answers to most any question. At eight weeks I was eating the same foods I had always eaten, just smaller amounts . Sherri has a lot of knowledge on diet, that I'm sure she will be sharing with you.
After my surgery, I felt very uncomfortable after eating, even though I ate small meals.
Now after two years ,I still have to be careful. If I over eat, I experience pain for about fifteen minutes. It's better to eat small amounts more often.

Do you sleep elevated? I have a seven inch wedge pillow and a regular pillow that I sleep on. I also take medication to keep down reflux. It is important to control reflux as much as possible and I have found out this works for me.
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Let us know more about your diagnosis, treatment and surgery.
I was diagnosed in Nov.2007 with stage 3 EC. I had pre-op chemo and surgery in may 2008. I have tested disease free since then. All on this site are different, but we are all survivors.
My prayers are with you, Sandra

An apple a day.......
Larry,

I take Prilosec (Omeprazole) for acid reflux. I find it works best if I take it just before I go to bed. But in addition, I have found that eating a medium sized apple cut into small pieces about two hours before I go to bed is very helpful in controlling reflux.

I find that, because I have to be careful not to drink too much liquid with meals, eating fruits that have some water content is good for my diet and also provides some additional hydration. I try to eat three servings of fruit each day. On a typical day I have a banana and a peach or berries for an afternoon snack and the apple in the evening.

Fresh berries (blackberries, raspberries, or blueberries) and frozen vanilla yogurt make a nice refreshing snack as well, and are an excellent source of antioxidants.

I also had some queasy feelings after eating when I was still using my j-tube. It seemed to improve when I stopped using the j-tube. I am not sure if it had something to do with the j-tube or if it was just timing. I stopped using my j-tube about two months after surgery.

A typical menu for a day for me would include:

Breakfast...............1 egg scrambled and an English muffin with peanut butter
1 hour after breakfast..8 oz glass of V8 juice
Mid Morning snack.......3 slices of cheese with six saltine crackers
Lunch...................½ Sandwich with multigrain bread (ham and cheese) with chips
1 hour after lunch......8 oz glass of Gatorade
Afternoon snack.........1 banana and 1 peach or berries and yogurt
Dinner..................small hamburger patty, mashed potatoes, gravy, cottage cheese
PM Snack................1 apple peeled and cut into small pieces
1 hour before bedtime...6 ounces or vanilla yogurt

You will note that the portion sizes are small. I find if I eat small amounts frequently I have fewer issues with nausea and abdominal discomfort.

I also found that as I started to feel better and started to leave the house on longer trips I had to find a way to give my body calories on a regular basis. I always keep a supply of packaged crackers with peanut butter and granola bars in the glove compartment of the car so I can snack when I am away from home. If we are going on a drive for some distance I take a small cooler in the car with fruit and V8 Juice and Gatorade and yogurt.

I also needed to define a method to measure my portion sizes when I had meals to insure I did not eat too much and make myself uncomfortable. I found that a portion size about the size of the palm of my hand was the right size for me. So, for example, if I had a meal that consisted of a meat, vegetable, and a roll; if each item was about the size of the palm of my hand that was all I could eat without making myself uncomfortable.

I hope some of these suggestions are helpful. Of course time will improve things.


Best Regards,

Paul Adams
McCormick, South Carolina

DX 10/22/2009 T2N1M0 Stage IIB
12/03/2009 Ivor Lewis
2/8 through 6/14/2010 Adjuvant Chemo Cisplatin, Epirubicin, 5 FU
6/21/2010 CT Scan NED