sister

1 minute read time.

FormerMember

8 Jan 2010

my sister had the ivor lewis op half micro surgery,and cut around shoulder blade on 23rd september2009,she then developed a leak and went back to surgery on 25th september since then she has never been right.chest infection,lung infection,didnt heal properley and was in hospital 11 and a half weeks.she came home in december and had trouble swallowing, after a week at home,she has got dumping syndrome very badly.she went for oesophagus stretching on wednesday,but couldnt have it done as she was to ill they admitted her to hospital on wednesday morning.they said she was dehydrated,and low blood pressure.they have hydrated her and they are sorting blood pressure out.she had the stretching done on thursday swallowing a lot better even though they did it whilst she was awake,to poorly for anesthetic.she is still in hospital today.when she goes home she still needs some back up medically,she has a bag draining her lung of infection,again cannot go to theatre to get it repaired to poorly,district nurse sees to that.but no back up from doctors,or anyone only me and her husband please could anyone ive me advice on what to eat,some kind of person to speak to or something.thankyou in anticipation.crystalclear has been an angel and steve for all the help and support we are vry grateful,thankyou and my thoughts are with everyone

crystalclear over 15 years ago

Hi Kimberley

Your sister is having more than her fair share of complications and as I’ve said before, I feel that your sister should be having more support from her Macmillan nurse. These nurses are assigned to every cancer patient and it’s their job to liaise between the doctors on the patient’s behalf, arrange things for the patient and generally offer support and practical advice. You will need to speak to the Mac nurse and tell him/her exactly how your sister feels and what your sister’s immediate needs are.

Otherwise, from what you have said, it looks as though the doctors are doing everything necessary in terms of treating your sister. After the Ivor Lewis surgery, apart from the three-monthly check-up with the consultants, there is no other back-up apart from that of your local GP. I too had a drain for three weeks, which the district nurse attended to, but other than that I was on my own. I’m afraid that this is usual practice and although the patient can feel very unwell with the side-effects of this surgery, barring complications and follow-up appointments, it is rare that you have access to the consultant again. This is a massive operation and recovery does take around 12 months, but it’s still early days and dumping syndrome, nausea, sweating, pain, diarrhoea, difficulty in eating etc, are all part of the long recovery process. I know how very worried you are and I always stress that if something just does not feel right or you are considerably worried, then do speak to your doctors again.

As your sister is still in hospital, now would be a good time to tell them about your concerns and ask the questions that have you worried. I wish your sister all the very best. Take care Kimberley.

Crystal xx

I’ve mentioned to you before about joining our oesophageal group. There you will find other people in similar situations to yourself, so do join us there if you want to.
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