Surgery Is Over

Tuesday February 12th Dr. Anderson and his team performed a Transhiatal Esophagectomy on dad.  Surgery started at noon and ended at 3:30 P.M.  Dad was transfered to the SICU.  That night was a tough night on dad.

Wednesday, February 13th Dad continued in the SICU. During the afternoon, they had dad sitting in a chair.

Thursday, February 14th Dad continued in the SICU.  They had him sitting in a chair in his room for 2 hours at a time. Once in the morning and once in the afternoon.  In the afternoon they had dad walking the length of the SICU and back to his room.  At 7:00 P.M. he was transfered to a fifth floor room.

Friday, February 15th  Dad took 3 walks today around the floor.  Doctors continue to monitor his progress.  My dad was exhausted today, but you could tell he was really proud of how far he has come since surgery on Tuesday.  He is doing breathing excises 10 times every hour. Today they removed the oxygen except when he walks and this afternoon they removed the epideral and needle from his back.  He still has the use of the pain pump and he has the nose drain tube.  He is now two days on a nutrition bag going into his stomach feeding tube.

Monday is the swallow test to check if there are leaks. Dr. Anderson says this is a big day for dad.

The doctors nurses and everyone who has helped with dad have been great.  Dr. Anderson told me that we have to take it one day at a time.  Dad is 83 and was on predesone prior to surgery.  My dad is so brave and strong.  He has so much fight in him.  I appreciate your prayers and your sharing prior to surgery.  I will do my best to share in return.  I have attended the noon mass each day at OSF.  My prayers are always for the family members who have OC and their families.

Steve

 

 

Hi Steve-Aren't these surgeons just amazing in what they can do? He sounds like he's doing so well-and at his age! Thanks for the update. Will keep you in my prayers. Good luck on Monday with the swallow. Then it's on to mini sips of water.

Hi Steve,

     I am SO glad to see your update. Thank you. That is great news ! I hope your Dad continues to get better everyday and I will pray that he is free from cancer. What relief you must be feeling. Both of you have been on my mind and in my prayers. Please keep udating when you can. I know you are busy with your Dad. I am happy for you both.

                                                                                      Pat

Hey Steve,

That is GREAT news! Your Dad must be one tough customer. I thought I did well after the surgery, but your Dad is doing a lot more than I was at this point. And I was only 54 at the time.

I usually preach the "Keep Moving" sermon at the end of my threads, but your Dad could show me a thing or two. Tell me when he's ready to bicycle and I'll look him up!!

Good Luck,

Steve 

Steve, I am glad that your Dad is doing outstanding in his recovery. He must be tough as nails knowing what he is going through everyday, while in the hospital. My prayers and thoughts will be there daily for him. Phil A.

Thank you so much for your reply.  Can you tell me more of what is to come if dad does or does not have leaks? It is Saturday night and it is so hard to talk to his drs. on the weekend. I have so many questions about Monday and what comes next.

Steve

I don't know the subject matter for your dear father, but I am in prayer for whatever need there is. I mean it.

What a special appointment of interaction we must all have!

Hoping for caregivers and strength...along with direction for next steps!

 

Hi-I don't know what happens if there are leaks. My guess would be they have to heal more with leaks, but I don't think it's that common. I tend not to let myself entertain thoughts about the "what ifs" and figured if they came we would deal with it in the moment. We had an excellent surgeon and I trusted she would know what to do if something was wrong. In the moment tends to be our approach, particularly since cancer. Pat had 2 or 3 swallows on consecutive days, and even though each was fine, his surgeon was slow to start on water because she really believes it's important for anastosmoses (sp?) to heal well before introducing anything to digestive tract. She also was really strict about not sucking on those swabs to wet your lips and inside of mouth. So it was day 7-8 by water (12 days at Lahey-UTI kept him there extra day). Then he got 1 oz of water every two hours for the next two days before going to full liquid diet and progressing back through soft and regular food once we got him home. We used the J tube which they put in at surgery at night for several months post surgically, and also added some extra hydration through the tube. Pat also had a lung resection for biopsy of nodules that lit up on PET at dx, so he had two large incisions, and may have progressed a bit slower because of that, although at 50 he had the advantage of relative youth and good health other than EC. Make sure they keep lots of hydration in tube once they do swallow. The barium can really block the system up and make for a bout of constipation. We one crappy nurse and it was on the day of a swallow (70 degrees in March in Boston-she didn't want to work that day), and she never flushed his tube but wrote it on his chart (I was there all day and the bottle of water stayed on the table). He paid for that dearly. By the time it all broke loose days later after 3 enemas they thought he was having a heart attack on the monitors, and a crew of people came running to check on him. He was in such a state that day with the discomfort that I actually left for a bunch of hours during the day because I couldn't bear to be around him (that was the only time he got to a place I couldn't take in 2+ years and we had some very bad times along the way). So plenty of water in the feeding tube with the swallows.