Life after surgery?

Your husband has his comparative youth on his side, as I’m sure you have been told!

I was 62. I left hospital 10 days after my Ivor Lewis surgery - without a feeding tube! I had no trouble moving around the house, in fact I was going for a walk outside each day going a few yards further each day.

Sleeping was a challenge initially, as I was running on a completely different time zone. Going to bed at six waking up 8 hours later at 2am! Initially I slept propped up as this guards against reflux. Many people buy a wedge pillow from oesophageal patients association (opa), which makes sleeping easier.

All this was 6years ago, but I shouldn’t think too much has changed with the recovery, although minimal invasive surgery has improved recovery time.

Recovery for me was slow and steady. A new normality established itself and now I lead a normal life, although my likes and dislikes food and drinks wise have changed. Not sure if it was the chemo or the surgery!
I hope this helps. There will be other people on here who can add their experience, which may be slightly different.

My experience is similar to that Brent described. I had my surgery in March last year and was in hospital for about 10 days too. In hopspital a physiotherapist came to visit me everyday. The first day after surgery they just helped me get out of bed and then sat into a chair for a few hours (and then back into bed too). They try to get you up as soon as possible as it helps reduce the risk of complications. Over my stay we worked up to walking on the spot, short walks around the ward and then around the hospital before I was discharged. The physiotherapist also asked about my living arrangements so they knew if they needed to complete a stair assement or not. Once I was discharged I found going for short walks outside, especially after eating really helped.

Sleeping was quite uncomfortable initially, I was unlucky and my thoracotomy wound on my back got a mild infection. To start off with I was sleeping on a pile of pillows and a folded up duvet under my back/shoulders. Once the wound had healed I switched to a wedge pilow which I've been using everynight since then.

I normally take public transport and work a desk job so 6 weeks after surgery I felt recovered enough to go back to work. That varies depending on recovery and complications. I'm sure it'd be more for anyone that works a more physical job too

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply, very helpful

Thank you for taking the time to reply, very helpful. He's a builder so I guess it will be awhile before he's back to that

Hi Tink, as Brent said he has youth on his side. I'm about 3 years and 8 months post Ivor Lewis surgery, I didn't have chemotherapy. I was T3 N2 M0 staging and was in for 12 days, I had developed a und infection and chest infection, I was 57 and had been a smoker for about 45 years. As  others have said they get you out of bed and into a chair a day after the surgery. Once you are fit enough y go a short walk accompanied and gradually increase the distance. As I neared being discharged the physiotherapist got me going up and down stairs. When I got home I could sleep propped up for about0 hours and still snooze during the day. I had a feeding tube for overnight feeding because I had lost about 5 stones in weight. I used to have a short walk accompanied by my wife just outside the hse for a couple of hundred yards. It was in October and it was Icy so I didn't want to fall so took it easy. I still had a wee bit infection in the wound but my local surgery nurses came every day f a couple of weeks and cleaned the wound and put a new dressing on. They were fantastic and after a few weeks I started to walk to the surgery for treatment until the wound fully closed. He might need a bit of help washing/ showering to start with I did start to get fatigue after a couple of months. Which was a setback as I was full of energy and thought I would be back to work in a couple of months, then bang! Fatigue, I hit the star by mistake and it's popped up in a few places and won't let me delete them. Anyway it's not all doom and gloom, good luck and kind regards Frank.

Many thanks Frank for your quick reply. He's had 4 sessions of Flot chemo and ct scan showed a partial reduction, the original plan was surgery then chemo again. But due to virus last phone call we had said they probably won't do chemo after now as risks outweigh benefits! 

He's on the shielded list due to being a chrmo patient so we haven't been out since March apart from to drop him off for chemo, bloods etc

I'm hoping by mid June there might be a change in hospital visiting and I can see him, he's having to go to a hospital out of our county so will have a couple of hours drive.

The plan before the virus was I'd book a travelodge or similar for first couple of days so I could be close, but all has gone out the window. I know he will be well looked after in there. 

Hi Tink 

I had my surgery on Dec 5th last year after 4lots of FLOT chemo. All went almost as planned and I was home by the 17th in time for Christmas. Once home I was able to get myself around the house upstairs and down, it was tiring but got easier over time. Eating was at first difficult, it was the smallest Christmas dinner I've ever had. It was just eat small amounts every few hours and try not to overdo it. I found it was a bit of trial and error with food, finding out how much and what I could eat before the dreaded dumping started but I soon got the hang of it. I started to go for walks up and down the street for a start gradually getting further each time. It's not easy by any means and sometimes it's so frustrating but I'm now looking forward to getting back to work in June. Your husband is 11 years younger than me and by the sound of it a lot fitter. As others have said everyone is different in how they are effected by the surgery and chemo so it's hard to say exactly how he will be but age and fitness are two of the main things that help. I was a smoker for year's before this and I'm really lucky to have got so far so quickly. I have always had a manual job which keeps me reasonably active. I hope this has helped you see what to expect, but it is hard work both for him and you as I'm sure my wife will tell you. I've said in other posts one of the main things is to stay positive.                                       If you want know anything in more detail please don't be afraid to ask. Mick

Thanks Mick, that's been really helpful. Due to virus he's  not had any hospital face to face appts since march, all phone appts or letters. So the info has been limited, we've been googling recovery etc as thought they would put info in with the appt letter but nothing.

The chemo has helped him to eat almost properly again and I think having to start again with soft foods and small portions etc when he's spent past 10 weeks building up to eating better is getting h down quite a lot. He lost 2 stone before he collapsed and ended up in hospital for a week and found out diagnosis (gp put all his symptoms down to work related stress) but he hadn't been able to eat properly since Christmas.  In last few weeks he's put on about 9lbs and is worried about losing more weight and the prospect of having another feeding tube. Did you come out of hospital with one?

Rob is so glad I posted on here and all your replies have helped him no end. 

Thank you

Maria

Hi Maria 

Unfortunately yes they put a feeding tube in during the operation coming out just below my ribcage on the left. When I came out of hospital I was told to use it every night to give me the nutrition I needed. The operation takes away the feeling of being hungry so I lost some weight until I could get used to it. I don't know what he had before but I just plugged in the food bottle via a pump to the connection in my side and let it do it's job. Once I started to gain a bit of weight and keep it the tube feeding went to every other night. They left it in while I had  my second lot of 4 chemo sessions. It finally came out last week. I found it uncomfortable, but it's a necessity. I think everyone who has this operation loses weight so it's quite normal. I do get a feeling of being hungry now, and I can eat normal portions but not everyone is the same. I know there's a long way to go yet but every day things get easier. Mick

Thanks Mick

Very helpful, I'm so pleased things are getting easier every day for you, take care

Maria