Good morning everyone... update on my Dad.

Ok...from my last msg (don't remember exactly what I put) we have just been told that my Dad can come home tomorrow .

Dad has been in hospital following surgery for around 6 weeks now due to complications, - he's had a Lung infection, 2 leaks in his 'new esophagus' (this was the biggest delay), trapped air behind both lungs, racing heartbeat (that the cardiologist now says is due to the surgery and the close distance to the heart) so now dad will have to take a pill everyday to regulate the heartbeat, bed sores...

The last few days (after the x-ray showed the hole had finally healed) they have been taking the pipes and tubes out one by one and replaced the feeding tubes with liquidised drink and soup. This has all been fine and today eggs and cheese are one the menu! 

So now comes the time of the next stage - any advice would be appreciated e.g. correct food plan and times etc. 

'Keeping the faith' has been difficult lately but after getting the news Dad is coming home...bring it on

Lee.

The path to success is never a straight line Lee, but this is an awesome update, awesome progress for your Dad and awesome news for you and your family @ Xmas - thank you for sharing !

Yippee Lee,

This is such good news to here! Your dad has done amazingly well to keep going and get through these tough set backs. You and your mum have too. 'Keeping the faith' is not easy at times - We know . Like you Kev's journey was longer than planned 6 weeks in hospital  in total and 3 life saving major operations  I think he met all the consultants!  To give you hope he had 6 pints yesterday Hilts!

Regarding next stages others may have better advice for this as I skipped this part because he wasn't on a liquidised diet by the time he came home. However soft food is what they advise and small and often. Shakes and soups. White fish is good and soft meats/veg/potatoes. I think most people would say what he fancies and be guided by him. Supplements help. My husband had fortysips. Try not to give him too much and don't be upset if he can't finish it. 

Honestly Lee you've made my day as I think of you and others often so thank you for keeping us updated we all appreciate it.

Keep the faith Lee and I truly hope for a better 2022 for everyone 

Milly
 

Hello all, I hope you are well and you have been enjoying your Christmas so far, or as much as you have been allowed to given what I imagine you have been going through. I am quite new here and noticed this is quite an active forum thread so thought I would post here.

After a few weeks of not being able to keep food down, my mum got her acid reflux checked out and it has turned out to be oesophageal cancer. She had her pet scan just before Christmas and a laroposopy scheduled for the new year. I'm hoping they will be able to do surgery to get rid of the lump. No solid news yet on if it has spread. 
 

I lost my dad to cancer (lymphoma) in February this year so it's been a very hard year. I saw him suffer and lose weight and he just wasted away before my eyes to the point where I overheard him saying that he wanted to die. Because of Covid etc he didn't really get the treatment he needed when he needed it because of how overwhelmed the hospitals were etc. 

I've seen some positive stories on here which is good to see. It's just hard to not be pessimistic after everything that has happened with my dad. My mum is a thin woman anyway but she has lost more weight and I feel so sorry for her not being able to eat her favourite foods especially at Christmas. Certain foods, even soup sometimes makes her sick and it's like deja vu with my dad. She has those protein shakes that the hospital prescribes and bless her she is trying. I can tell she wants to cry because she is so sick of this liquid diet. She often burps a lot after drinking something and I hear her stomach make noises which as I understand it is normal. 
 

anyway I just wanted to introduce myself and any advice would be very much welcome, thank you. 

Welcome Franface to our group. Firstly, please accept my condolences on the loss of your dad. 
Sorry to hear that your mum has been diagnosed with OC and I hope finding us on here will help you and in turn your mum. I am the onlooker like some others on here. It sounds like your mum has got over the first hurdles as the laparoscopy is the last one. My husband had a longer than average wait from diagnosis to start of treatment as he was diagnosed aged 62 on 27th October and began chemo on 29th Jan 2021.It was a complete shock as he seemed fit and healthy.  However the care he has received from the NHS has been brilliant overall. He had complications which prolonged his stay in hospital but he is here and is doing well. 

This waiting part of 'the journey' is emotionally stressful and I imagine particularly hard for you due to your recent bereavement. Try and take it a step at a time.,We called it 'walking the line' not looking too far back or forward. 
Fortunately my husband was able to eat most things although not everything. Most seem to find an improvement on swallowing once chemo starts to kick in. My husband found it easier after the second cycle. 

I hope it helps to know others care and get it. Everyone is unique but this OC club that no one wants to belong to has helped me enormously over a long and at times very difficult journey.

keeping the faith 

Milly

Hi y'all, 

hope you all had a 'peaceful' Xmas xx we had the best. Husband was feeling a bit emotional as a year since kicked out of hospital. He said he xmas dinner was the best he'd ever had (correct response) as he is here, disease free (for now) no more mushed food- like last year .

My Covid has gone yay- not that bad, just like a filthy cold. Seems everyone I know has gone down with it!!! No, I was not the vector LOL. Funny though, I was the only one in this house to get it, the rest nowt???.

MIllie- I last reported five, now the magic number is 8!!!! He went out with his friend for 'a Xmas drink'and had rather few to many- boy did he suffer for 2 days after hahahaha. He , despite the hangover was quite pleased as his research went off without a hitch......... I note your Kev is up to 6 !!!!. I bet he is pleased with his research results too.

LEE - big clapping emoji's yay. Your Dad is on his way. We have all said it I think, but there is no 'straight road' through this, but little by little onwards. Soft diet, well, my advice ( for what it's worth) is anything he fancies, modified. There are loads of 'special' things out there , but most are absolutely rank. Husband has everything I was cooking, but blitzed, just a standard blender, then just over the 2-3 weeks make the blend coarser.He also made the most of things like ice cream, cream all the lovely high fat stuff. They gave him all these drinks before discharge, but they were so disgusting that he didn't bother. Within about 2 weeks, he was pretty much back on unmushed. As for his liver, well they will nuke them back into line - I think you said he would be having more chemo.

Last but by no means least- welcome Franface. To the oesophageal cancer club. None of us are medics just 'experts in the lived experience' we have or are 'living the dream' (:. Ask away, anything that's on your mind. Your Mam's story like ours, a bit of acid reflux, or so we thought, Bob's yr uncle, OC!!You are at the worst bit emotionally right now, it get a tad better when you know what you're dealing with and where you are going. 
KEEP keeping that faith folks

Hilts x

Hello All,

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and [@leechap]‍  great news on your dad! I hope he is enjoying being home. 
My dad has also made great steps in his recovery, got his Trachy removed yesterday and moved back to HDU! Today we walked in and he was eating a cheese sandwich!!! We about fell in a heap! We are assuming because he's had so much time to heal it's now allowed! 
He is very weak though and told to build himself up but not allowed diary, any advice?

Hope everyone else is doing well, and for those further down the journey you enjoyed every minute of your Christmas!

Hi all,

Great news Scott - a cheese sandwich is a big step at this stage. Not sure about no dairy...when my Dad was discharged yesterday, there wasn't much advice on nutrition and diet, just a general sheet of foods but they did emphasize little and often and nothing hard for a few weeks. My Dad managed to eat a jacket potato with tuna last night (skinless) and tortilla during the day...had no issues and really enjoyed it. Good news you're over the COVID Hilts.

Lee

Hi Lee,

Thats really good news! If you Google nhs Oesophagectomy (which I guess you've done already) you should find info on diet. Sometimes hospitals have their own advice sheets on there. I think the 'city of spires' has a discharge advice sheet on the internet.
As you said it's little  and often. You could try adding calories with butter, cheese, cream and I add skimmed milk powder to whole milk. White fish is easy to digest, mince like spaghetti Bol etc. I add spinach in dishes. Eggs are a good source of protein. You can scramble these with cream and butter. Pancakes, omelettes. Cakes and shakes! As  we 'onlookers' have said whatever he fancies! We were advised by an ex patient that pomegranate juice is good for your platelets (the 100% one). Also green foods like broccoli are rich in iron. 
Thanks for the update!

keeping the faith

Milly