Recovery after an oesophagectomy

Hi PTP,

I had a bit of a cough once I got home and found it was due to not being upright enough while sleeping. Once I bought myself a wedge pillow I was OK.

I had post-op chemotherapy so it might be different but I had jejunostomy feeding all the way through until after my chemo was complete. The tube then came out about 4-5 weeks afterwards, some of that delay was more because I was waiting for an appointment, and the first time I went to have it removed I was bumped as the operating theatre was needed for emergency surgery. As I understand it, if you're wife's weight is stable they'll agree to remove the jejunostomy tube.

The nurse told me there were different types of jejunostomy tube some of which can be removed in an normal outpatients appointment (not sure if they can be done at home by a nurse though). The type I had though had to be removed in an operating theatre, it didn't take long and only needed local anaesthesia but was scheduled in like day surgery at my hospital.

Kind regards,
Chris

Chris,

Thanks for the reply.

My wife has actually been using a wedge pillow for quite a while now (long before the operation in fact), and her cough is thankfully not such a problem at night time. We haven't quite identified what exactly does provoke it - but both eating food and talking seem to do so.

Noted on the tube - thanks. We're looking forward to seeing the end of that in due course.

Thanks again.

Hi PTP

I had my oesophagectomy 11 weeks ago. 

The very day after I was discharged from hospital following my surgery I started with a really dry cough which presented itself every time I spoke. I got to the point I barely spoke for a while as I couldn't even say 2 words without persistently coughing. I had no other symptoms. I went to my GP to be on the safe side and she said I may have picked up a chest infection (apparently these are quite common with this type of surgery), so she prescribed me antibiotics and the cough was gone in a week or so. 

I had a jejunostomy which was used for feeding whilst I was in hospital (I had some complications and had to go back onto Nil by Mouth for a while) but I didn't have to use it at all when home as I was eating OK by then. It was removed by the nurse at my first outpatients appointment around 3 weeks after I was discharged. There was no anaesthetic involved, just a couple of stitches to cut which were holding it in place. The nurse just whipped the tube out in a matter of seconds and I didn't feel a thing.  

Hope this helps, stay safe

Deb x

Deb,

Thanks very much for that reply - it's very helpful on both points.

The current disruption (and risk) on account of the coronavirus right now makes a visit to the GP more troublesome than it would otherwise have been; still, we'll get advice from the medical staff in due course.

Thanks again.

Hi PTP

Is your GP doing triage over the phone at the moment? If so, it may be worth giving them a call. I have done this recently and my GP prescribed medication after a telephone conversation, they sent the prescription directly to the pharmacy who delivered it to my door, so I never had to leave the house throughout the whole process.

Thanks

Deb x 

Deb,

Thanks again. I'm sure the local GP surgery will indeed be able to help us like that; I don't want to overburden them at the moment, but getting in touch in that way sounds like a very good idea.

Thanks.

Hi PTP,

I had my oesophagectomy September 2018. I still have a cough. To be fair I was a cougher before surgery, (and a smoker). I've obviously given up smoking, but the cough persists. I was told that because I had a lung collapsed for 6 hours during surgery it can take up to 2 years for my lung to recover. I think collapsing a lung is standard practice in oesophagectomy? The coughing doesn't really bother me, but now it is more socially acceptable to fart in public than cough in public?

Wishing your wife a speedy and full recovery.

Anon613,

Thanks for the reply.

I think you're right that collapsing a lung is standard for this surgery - simply in order to provide satisfactory physical access for the surgeon - and I know that it was done in my wife's case. I guess it's not surprising that, even if things have gone perfectly, that procedure itself will take time to get over.

And you're spot on with the 'social acceptability' comments: this is not a great time to be coughing!

Thanks again.

Hi Ptp, I didn't have much problems with the coughing but I used to drink lemon and ginger tea sweetened with honey to soothe the throat when I had a cough. I think they stop the feeding tube once you have gained weight over a month or two. The tube is taken out if you have sustained your weight or continued to gain weight. I think it depends where you are regarding how the tube is removed. I had mine taken out in a hospital day clinic, more waiting around and it was removed in a few minutes. Good luck and kind regards Frank.

Zappaman,

Thanks for the reply.

On the cough: yes, I think we'll give that idea of some kind of soothing drink a try.

On the tube: that all makes sense, and I think is what we are expecting. The current disruption won't help of course, but we can get in contact with the excellent medical team who have helped us the entire way, so no doubt things will work out in due course.

Thanks again.