Hi, he is having problems with his appetite in that he never feels hungry.....I do encourage him to eat and he does but he is worried that he is not eating enough. He has a feeding tube at night giving him approx 12,000 cals. Any ideas how  he can increase his  appetite? He also has a lot of pain around his rib, on the side of his scar, is this normal? He also seems very down, although his prognosis is good.

How are you getting on?

Hi

Glad to hear he's got through the op. The hard work does start now I'm afraid. 
Lack of appetite is one of the side effects of the op. Durin* the op a nerve gets cut and it's this nerve which drives the hunger message to your brain. So what did and what do I do; try and get him into a routine where he has a very small snack/ meal every 2 - 3 hours. Pick something that he has been able to eat easily. Don't put pressure on him to eat but coax him into to it. It will get better but never be the same. I have either a drink or a small snack meat ever hour to hour and a half. I never feel hungry and I often joke with my wife and say "Am I hungry now?".

It took me 6 months to get to some sort of normality as I kept eating the wrong things and getting bad dumping syndrome. So watch out for sugar, doughy bread and hidden sugars.

He is on a difficult journey but tell him from me it will get easier and he will adapt, it just takes time.

If you want anything else from me, please feel free to post a message.

Hi Kathymay

I would be happy to speak to you - I can imagine how helpless you must feel at the moment. We all went through it and my dad found it really difficult as main carer. How can I help?

Georgie

Hi Georgia, I am wondering how to keep him positive, he gets down days, although his prognosis is good with none of the 76 lymph nodes removed within the tissue during surgery containing NHS cancer. Obviously it is more difficult for people to visit due to Covid at present. Do you know how long after  surgery it will be for his  immune system to get back to normal? How is your Mum doing?

Thanks Georgie

Hello (not your real name ) Otto (:.

Good to hear from a 'survivor'. 
There is a 'club' going on , on here, the Oesophageal cancer club.  There are loads of us, various tumour stages and various treatment stages. With 1-2 'veterans. Now I find there are a lot lot more!

If you go into my 'hilts' and followed conversations it is RayB / oesophageal cancer diagnosis we are on there, 

lit is so so good to have someone who is 'post'. So many and so much on line is frankly a horror story.

It is my 56 yr old husband with OC. Totally out of the blue , like so many current travellers,late July last year. Given a C2 adeno. He had his preop. FLOT, Oesophagectomy (key hole) and last Tuesday finished his 4 post op FLOTS yipeeeeee. He/we have been told currently'active disease free' finally histology T1b n-0, MO. MACC 2/5. Good clear margins. I thought I'd have to contact Bletchley Park to translate that, but with help on here ,managed to work it out.

we are kinda looking at each other thinking 'what just happened' ,surreal doesn't come close.

He is back on full grub since week 8..... see my posts......frankly I despair (:

As for the NHS- well, I know some people are let down, but I cannot even begin to describe how utterly amazing they have been,once you get through GP that is..... talk about bish, bash , bosh. (: . Endoscopy on 29th July; CT scan next day (quiet because of Covid) we were given an appointment for MDT for 'official diagnosis' and treatment plan for 2nd August, but we deferred to the 8th and decided to go on our planned holiday- I mean what else can you do. PET scan a week later. MDT decided to go for curative and started treatment 3 weeks later. Now we are done, i always say 'for now' as don't want to tempt the old fate.

So come over to the club.

Great to hear from a 'success' (:

best wishes

Hilts - maybe or may not be my real name (: (:

Mickey 71,

What on earth can I say to you. Nothing will make your loss any better, but Hi.

For some reason there seems to be a devil of a lot of 'oesophageals' on here.

take care

hilts

Hi All, 

Didn't realise this was an 'old' tread reactivated.  I don't suppose it matter really as we are all on here for same/similar reasons . (:

Hi KathyMay - the first 6 months were really difficult for my mum. She was very down as well - she had a pancreatic tumour removed a few years before and various other illness but had always been a really positive person. This surgery hit her hard and 18 months on she still is not back to what she was. Mum is cancer free but has been left with vomiting from the surgery and they have now said there is nothing else they can do. This gives her good days and bad days but she has had wonderful support from her nurse who still calls her on a regular basis. Please don't worry as This doesn't happen to everyone so try what Otto suggested with small meals little and often. This site helped her in the early days (big thanks to Otto as his advice really reassured us all). The surgery is just the start of this and the recovery is long but your husband is here and through surgery so it can only get better. Share these posts with him (I'm sure my mum would be happy to message him as well) and reach out to others who have been through it. As family members we can support but can't really understand what they're going through. If he's willing and strong enough seek out support groups or use this for now. Feel free to ask any questions  -  I remember how helpless we all felt in the early days so will do anything I can to help and make sure you take time for you too xx

Hi Kathymay, 

I don't know how I was notified of these post as they are 'older', but here I am. It must be karma or telepathy. I noticed your post is newer than the rest. All I can say is welcome to the Oesophageal club!!!
 

My husband is the 'victim'. Shock out of the blue diagnosis late July last year. Aged 56. Gone through the whole pre op chemo, op, post op chemo, finished last Tuesday. Yipppppppeeeeee (:. Been told he is 'visable/active disease free' .......now the recovery begins I guess.

One thing is for sure, we seem to be an ever expanding club. I started here last July and there must be at least 8-10 (all blokes) that are all at the same stage in treatment as the old man. Now I find this board, so that doubles it. I keep telling my husband that he is a 'common as muck' (:

Us more recent 'victims' have another thread running. Go to my name, followed discussions, rayb, oesophageal cancer diagnosis. It would be great if we all posted on the same board. Ray is probably going to kill me for expanding/hijacking his threat......probably not as I think for all of us, it is good to know we are certainly not alone (:

Also , hello Georgie. Great to see another veteran, out the other side. That is really really heartwarming to see.(:

take care 

Hilts