After stomach removal

Hi there,

I had total gastrectomy a year ago and still get nausea but not nearly as much as right after the surgery. I found I am lactose intolerant now and get super nauseous if I eat yogurt or cheese. Milk with my coffee is strangely fine (thank goodness as I love my coffee!). Sugar could also cause nausea. Does it last long? For me it passes after 15-20 minutes so I just have to wait it out. 
on the upside, a year after the surgery I am feeling great, eating everything I did before (except dairy) in much bigger portions. 
Best wishes,

Ewa

Hi, it’s still early days for him, I took anti sickness tablets for a while after the surgery, I would ask for a prescription x

Thankyou,its good to hear other people have this and I'm not the only one 

Thanks,i have asked for some from g.p 

Hello l had the operation just over two years ago and I am now eating normally. It took awhile for me to eat normal food and only small amounts. I went through the same as your husband. I still have a stent replaced every few months to keep my throat open. Hopefully my next operation the surgeon is hoping to leave it out. May of ask does your husband attend any of the local support groups,as I find them a great comfort I attend two every month. These have helped me understand that what I was going through lots of other people were likewise going through it. Also I started going for a morning walk going longer as time passed. Hopefully this will help that he's on a long journey and it takes time, but it does get better.

Thanks for message ,my husband has just started going for a short walk each day as he realised his legs were getting very weak.now the weather is warmer he decided to start.he still feels very cold all the time since chemo. Why did you have a stint ? He hasnt had that. Good advice about a group but he can't be persuaded to go! 

Good morning. Good to hear that your husband is feeling better and walking. I have a stent in as when I had the operation I was told that the nerves that control the valves too and from the stomach were removed and that these will either stay open or closed. The bottom one stayed open but the top value remained closed so I have stent in every few months. Hopefully the next one might possibly the last one needed. As far as the support groups I find that they are a great sauce if information and help. I go the one set up by the specialist cancer nurse, so I'm meeting follow patients how are at different stages of the journey e.g first meeting l met a lady who had the operation 12 years ago another gentleman had it 5 years ago and was back working. Also I get free coffee made with full fat milk and chocolate biscuits. I also met the surgeon who operated on me and many others when came and gave a talk on the subject. I know it's not for everyone,but I find  comfort and enjoy meeting people who have or are going through the same thing. Hopefully this helps. 

Thanks for reply,i didn't know that could happen!  I'm like you and think a support group is a great idea. Hope you keep well and good luck with stent

Absolutely, I’m the same and it’s over a year. I still can’t eat bread but I found a brown light loaf that I can eat toasted ( half a slice) I eat scrambled eggs every morning and weirdly beans! No nausea. When I addressed the nausea with the nutritionist, she said it was still dumping syndrome, however, like your husband it wasn’t always food related. So I did more research and I think that the most likely explanation for me is vagus nerve damage. I know that in surgery I had some understandable minor complications like spleen damage and adhesions so it’s very likely at some point the vagus nerve was involved. My symptoms are nausea, fatigue, feeling hot then cold and faint. I get this randomly and sometimes it goes after 30 min sit down or sometimes it stays for hours. I just try to ignore it but it is realistically the only symptom that makes feel bad. I often rush my food and get pain and nausea for minutes but that is self inflicted, like you said these symptoms have no correlation to anything. Maybe look up vagus nerve damage and see if it has similar symptoms to your husband? I have learned to live with it and remind myself that I’m very lucky to be healthy. I don’t mean to say that this is the answer, only a possible cause as I also ran out of reasons. Take care x Milly 

Hi It is important to exercise regularly because with a total gastrectomy there is a significant risk of reduced absorption of protein which helps build muscle so we need to work a little harder to rebuild the muscle mass.