Rose, an extract from the OPA (Oesophageal Patients Association)

DUMPING

A sensation known as Dumping Syndrome occurs when the food you have eaten passes rapidly through the system and may give rise to some of the following symptoms: dizziness, possibly fainting, feeling very hot, sickness and pain in the abdomen. Diarrhoea or frequent bowel movements may follow. It can be unpleasant and distressing, but is not serious and generally the frequency of attacks becomes less. The effects normally disappear in half an hour or so. For Oesophagectomy patients it generally occurs an hour or more after eating (late Dumping). Those who have had a gastrectomy may be more prone to dumping, and this may occur sooner after eating (early Dumping).

Hi Sally

Hope the chemo goes well for John and he sounds very fit physically which is a huge plus, as is a sense of humour J. Just take a step at a time if you can, as that will save you a lot of worrying Sal. It’s hard to be a carer and you’ve been there before so are even more fearful.

As Wend says, I hope you’ll also chat with Brumigem here as he’s been through such a lot and is an amazing example of someone who’s been through all this himself – plus he has a lovely sense of humour when I’ve read his posts. Please let me know how John is doing with his chemo etc.

Hi Rose – you’re not butting in, you’re very welcome here. It’s very early days after your mother’s surgery and she will experience all kinds of funny goings on in her tum. There are days of sheer constipation and then days of hovering round a bathroom door just in case Lol. As for eating, to be frank I found it a bit of a nightmare for quite a while. Mostly, after swallowing I’d start retching and I just couldn’t find any food that really appealed or I cared to eat. It settled down eventually and it sounds as though your mum is going through similar, but she’s doing alright by the sound of it.

Hi Brumi xxx thanks for being here, we need your humour J How are you and when do you start your vitamin B12 injections? I see some lovely photos on your profile but none of you? Keep posting as I want to know how you are doing.

All best things for you all - Crystal

Hi

Thanks Wend, I will contact Brumigem and look out for their posts, John never had his Chemo last thursday as his blood count was too low so hopefully it will resume this Thursday, each day draws nearer to the operation but thanks to people like you Crystal I have been made aware of a few problems that may occur such as dumping which I had not heard about so I will not start to stress if this happens, I just wish it was all over now but just take it day as it comes which is all we can do, funny, you think you have it all panned out, looking back now I wish 1 in 200 that I had done more in demanding more intense screening of the Barretts but I honestly didn't think John would be that contract cancer through it. I send you all my love and best wishes
Sal
xxxx

Hi Sal - I'm sure you did everything you both could in following the regular screening protocol for Barretts oesophagus.

Just try to focus on getting through the next session of chemo and ensuring John is as reasonably fit as he can be ready for the surgery. I was reading in the Daily Mail today that this operation can now be performed by keyhole surgery, but apparently there are only a handful of places that use this procedure. The article went on to say that recovery time from this is a few weeks as opposed to around a year with the Ivor Lewis procedure which I had.

Let me know how John gets on on Thursday and make sure you have some quality time for yourself too.

Crystal xx