Stage 1/2 stomach cancer diagnosis

Hi SnowWhite, I’m so sorry to read about your dad, my husband had his stomach out last Jan, he was 79 at the time. His cancer was where your dads is at the base of the Oesophagus so all the stomach came out, I don’t know how many joins he had but believed to be just one. His scar goes from his breast bone to belly button so not too big. You say he will have 3 joins to reconnect to his small stomach so does that mean he’ll still have a bit of stomach? Husband didn’t have chemo because of his age. He came out of hospital on the 7th day, walking well . He could eat mushy food for the first couple of weeks then went onto our food in small portions, he didn’t really want to eat at that time but knew he had to. Now he can eat anything in a bit bigger portions but has to have a few snacks during the day with a lot of calories in. He finds it hard to put weight on so we have to keep an eye on that. He also had open surgery that lasted for about 5 hours, he managed to phone me after the op.
Now 10 months later you wouldn’t know he hasn’t a stomach, he does as much as he did before. 
Im sure your dad will pick what’s right for him, it’s a hard decision at their age but I’m glad my husband went for surgery, there was a time that he wasn’t sure if he should, that only lasted a couple of days though x

Thank you for the quick reply Sue. It’s really helpful to know your husband has made a good recovery, and I’m pleased for you both. Can I ask if your husband was very fit? The operation sounds daunting, and the surgeon was very careful to express how hard it will be after, so I think my dad is very apprehensive, but I’m sure your reply will help to provide a balance. Thank you 

I’ve sent you a friends request if you want to except it xx 

Hi SnowWhite my mum is 67 and she had FLOT not palliative chemo- So one extra drug, and she had a lot of cycles uofront so the situation is slightly different. What I’d say is everyone reacts differently to the chemo and the surgery. Some people have surgical complications which make recovery harder (I’m sure as your surgeon explained) but equally some people have reactions to chemo which are awful- and sometimes overlapping (e.g. risk of infection) and some have barely any side effects to chemo. For my mum the chemo was worse than the surgery; so it’s worth bearing all of this in mind for such serious treatment. It’s hard to know what the effects will be which I am sorry is not very helpfu, please let me know if you have any other questions

Hi Sue, I have tried to accept your friends request but I’m not sure it’s successful as I don’t know what I’m doing lol. 

Thank you Nnnnn. I agree chemo can have severe side effects and you don’t know how your body will react until you have it. You say your mum had surgery? Was it a full stomach removal? How is she now? 

I think we are friends but it’s not letting me send a message to you, it wants to send it to someone else like Jac , I find this site the hardest to work, I’m not very tech savvy at the best of times and they don’t make it easy. 
Have you read my profile by clicking onto my name then scroll down to my husbands, it’ll tell you a bit about him. 
If you wanted you could look for me on face book , let me know if you want then I’ll give you my info x

Thank you Sue. Yes, I’ve read your profile. Your husband has gone through a lot, but I spoke to my dad and it has given him the encouragement to ask more questions and have his pre op assessment to see if he passes the assessment. Thank you  

Hi SnowWhite yes it was full stomach removal, she was discharged from hospital after 10 days, first week was quite hard on her. After that improvement was quite rapid, probably a month or two and her energy levels were better, before that she was a bit lethargic had a nap 1x per day. She’s three months after the surgery and does physio weekly, goes on a walking treadmill and exercises does housework and can drive etc. she’s not how she was before all the treatment but she’s definitely bounced back from the low points. Low points were probably the first week of surgery and around cycle 6/7 of chemo those were debilitating for her, but she’s recovered quite well. I hope this is helpful x 

It very reassuring to hear that after 3 months your mum is doing such a lot. Long may her improvement continue. I will share with my dad to give him reassurance and confidence. Thank you