Hi I am 49 years of age and 6 years post op, after being diagnosed with stage 3 oesophageal cancer.
In the early part of 2018 aged 43 I underwent the ivor lewis procedure accompanied by pre and post op chemotherapy, my treatment finished in mid 2019
Eating is a huge subject here and I wanted to share my experiences.
Pre op I could barely eat or drink and was looking at soft foods like mince and potato ect. And towards the end I had to blend all my food while my nutrition was assisted with an NG (nasogastric) feed tube.
After surgery this was replaced with a PEG (percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy) feed for a few weeks while I recovered.
Post op my feeding habits were hit and mis and seamed to take ages to get back to normal although I still struggled with portion control, pre op I was a big eater.
It does get easier, or you just adapt I’m not quite sure.
What I eat today, except portion size is no different from before my surgery. Milk is my only change in diet and I now use a lactose free variety. I tend to avoid regularly eating tuff meats like beef, but this is down to slow gastric emptying.
Some other symptoms I experienced were “early dumping syndrome” this has all but passed now and I don’t remember the last time I had an episode
I still have the occasional symptoms of “late dumping” and have found that shortbread or a chocolate bar helps while the effects pass.
All this was hampered by Slow gastrial emptying syndrome, this in its self cussed fatigue and even today I have days where I struggle with energy. I continue to take medication to help with this.
Most people I have spoke too all say about the rib pain and OMG does it hurt, but what a small sacrifice to pay, the pain by the way does get better and after a year or so for me it got easier and now I get no pain, just the odd twinge now and then but is more of a discomfort rather than pain.
During my treatment I was able to continue working although after the op I was off work for about 12 weeks. I work for a car manufacturer as a fire fighter which in its self is a challenging job, but I was lucky to be able to return to normal duties, although it took a while. So there is hope.
I hope this helps someone through what is a challenging time and I hope you all well in your journeys to recovery.
on a last note PTSD is a side effect and I struggled in the early days, it’s fair to say that mental health shouldn’t be ignored if your suffering then talk to someone about it, it does help.
