Hi Sue !

I've just finished a large chicken and lamb shawarma kebab with a can of cola (additional calories any way I can!) for dinner and went to Pizza Express with a friend for lunch yesterday and had a Romana American Hot, chocolate brownie with ice cream and bottle of cola - to give you an idea of post gastrectomy eating.

Took a while to get there eating and pushed myself on advice of my surgeon, to stretch things through eating and increase capacity ! 

Life wise, the biggest change is remembering to eat ! I never get hungry, so with work and back to back meetings I often get to lunch, feel faint and then realise why ... I forgot to eat breakfast after my morning coffee !

I have to remember to eat slowly too and not rush else forcing too much stuff into the smaller capacity at the same pace pre op doesn't work and feels uncomfortable !

My awesome Wife is very good at remembering and knowing this and is attuned to the pace I should eat at, and often reminds me over dinner to slow down as I excitedly tuck in !

Apart from that and being more slimline than pre op, I am grateful to be out the other side of the craziest year of mine and my family's life and making the most of every day as this taught me how much I took things for granted !

Not sure if that's much help though !? Anything else, just ask and one of this lovely and supportive bunch will come back and help you out. Hilts and Milly were aweosme encouragers to me when I felt like giving in, limping over the line on my knees through post op chemo - which is by far the hardest thing I have ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, evvvvvvver done in my whole entire life ! It made the pre op stuff and the op itself seem like a cake walk.

Just don't overthink things and put too much pressure on yourself. My Wife had no prior knowledge or experience for my new diet, capacity to eat etc and we both learnt on the fly and worked together to optimise our journey out the woods !

Hey Andi

The Epsom salts did make me smile, as my Grandad used to , not bathe in them, but drink them for 'blockages' swore by them- but he was a Wiley old boy.LOL

SueCC- I am no nurse, I left over 30 years (eke) ago. things have changed beyond all recognition! When we got husbands diagnosis, I was all over the place, but I was remembering oesophagectomy circa 1988- nothing like the reality at all. Big girl knickers might be useful to keep the cold,out, but you will get through this fine. For me, the thoughts were far worse than the reality, My guy needed no 'looking after' at all when he came home, no dressings, no pain ( some occasionally) and his jej feeding tube he dealt with himself. All I did was mush his food, but only for about 2 weeks. It the word cancer, that freaks everyone out, but once treatment has started, you'll feel better about it. In my experience us watchers are worse, in terms of worrying, than the patient!
keep that faith fellow travellers

Hilts

Ooooo Redski

So very good to hear that - I still can't seem to get much food in and have lost bucket loads of weight - and still losing. They are threatening to put another line in but as you say - it's so difficult when you just don't feel hungry!!  I am at my wits end to get more food in!!  Sometimes even that last teaspoon of food just won't go down - grrrrrr.  But it's sort of comforting to hear you're not alone. My lovely friends and family mean well with the 'just another few spoons' - like encouraging a baby to eat - but I just can't.  Again - thank you all

Trying to keep the faith 

Andi xx

Hi Redski

Thank you for that - I know I'm so lucky to have had such superb treatment - but my second major op 4 weeks ago has knocked the stuffing out of me - but I must pull myself together. Yes - I have everything full fat - eat chocolate- milky drinks - anything - but I've gone from 80kg (overweight!!) to 54 - so thin. 
 

Anyway - thank you again - must stop whingeing and just get on with it

Andi xx

It's bound to knock the stuffing out of you ... don't underestimate just how much our bodies have been through Andi but the path to success is never a straight line and in time you'll be back to your best. Your body is healing and a watched pot never boils, so try not to focus on where you're at and just get back to loving yourself, smiling at life, seeing friends, seeing family and you'll be further out the other side before you realise it ! You're a trooper and an inspiration to so many, keep going !

Thank you again - will take your words on board Redski xx

please can somebody help.

my step dad got his pet scan results today and the cancer has spread so they will not operate to remove tumour. they will only

offer chemo and have given him 1-2 years.

what can we do? if anything? any idea of next steps? chemo? have no idea what to ask or where to start. thank you. 

So very sorry to read that, I'm sorry I can't offer any help as I'm very new to this cancer but I'm sure the other people with more knowledge than me will be along soon.

Just wondering if they will offer him palliative chemo. X

Well, hello Ocean, 

Another newbie to our club! The club you'd really rather not be in eh.

Lets see if we can help.

You are in that place we all remember well- utter brain chaos! You are so full of info you don't know where to start, you don't know wether to laugh, cry, scream, smash. You might be waking up at night, if you can sleep at all, with those cogs in your brain whirring away, with the worst of everything?? Wondering what on earth you can do to fix this and is it really real ? 
Several of us on here have been 'living the dream' for a while and belive me when I say we 'get it'

if it is any help, this it is probably the absolute worst bit, the emotion storm, helplessness, can't belive it etc.At this time , you just want to fix it, you'd do anything just to help- slow down, take a step back.

Probably , like most of us at the start you went straight to Dr Google and friends . Trust me, resist  if you can. It truly gives the worst horror show for OC imaginable! In my experience absolutely nothing like the reality at all.

On to your step Dad, first up don't panic- many people are told they can't have surgery, in my view probably the right call, as why have pretty hefty surgery, when the actual original tumour has bred. You can't remove tiny fragments from all places they reside- what you CAN do is kill 'em with chemo. Anywhere the little ***** choose to hide, chemo will find them. 
So, your step Dad will probably be what is known as palliative- now, before you pass out, that does not mean check out time! It means treatment of a chronic condition- one guy on here is 13 years into his palliative and one guy is no longer palliative- he is disease free. Sure, not all tales are positive, but it not all doom and gloom. How long people live for is always a stab in the dark, I hate to talk about the 'run over by a bus' line, but how long have any of us got , sick or not sick!

My advice to you is ask questions, write them down and take them to your MDT appointments. If he is struggling to get food down, just get down what he can- anything- the higher in calories and fat the better.

Come back here and ask away. Happy to answer if I can

start keeping the faith

Hilts