Update On Dad - Still Awesome

Well, it's been 13 days now since the surgery and Dad is home and doing well. There were no complications to really speak of. Only thing is that he has to take the oxygen home for a week or so to use while walking.

Pathology reports are back now, all clean. They took out a ton of nodes, some tissue from his lung that turned out to be nothing, and the piece of esoph where the tumor originally was... all gone!

I am so relieved. I hope my dad will have a good recovery.

Can anyone shed some light on lung capacity/shortness of breathe after surgery? Turns out dad has a touch of emphasema, which we never knew until all of this cancer stuff began. He quit smoking 14 years ago. I am nervous he is going to use the oxygen as a crutch- he is using it at night and sometimes during the day.

I hope your Dad continues to do well. I don't know about shortness of breath after surgery bur my mom only has about 20 % of her lung function left from COPD. My mom had the cancer but did not have surgery because her lungs were too bad. She had chemo and radiation. Is your Dad under the care of a lung Dr? If not I would strongly suggest it. My mama's oxygen levels were fine without it (machine) and I ask her lung Dr if her stats were OK could she do without it some and he said no, that it would put too much strain on her heart. Your Dad's problem may be temporary, of course I don't know but it may be worth a consultation with a lung specialist. Good luck,

                                              Pat 

Sounds like your Dad is doing great!  My mom was also just operated on 2 weeks ago tomorrow and is also experiencing some shortness of breath after eating to moving around and they put her back on O2 after a couple days off.  I really feel that it will just be a matter of time for them to gain thier strength back and get back to thier normal stamina again.  Keep encouraging him to do the PT even if it wipes him out!

 Cheers.

June

I had a lot of shortness of breath.  In the hospital, they had respiratory therapy all the while I was in the hospital.  I also have Asthma.  In my case, they brought the stomach up into the thoracic chest cavity where it still competes for space with my heart and lungs.  Don't worry.  It is something your Dad can get used to.  It is a little scarey at first because of being used to having full lung capacity. 

I also had a portion of my lung removed that was damaged in radiation.  It is not all bad.  I, also, wanted the oxygen in the hospital, but the doctors will take it away when necessary.  After I got home, I didn't have oxygen and I used a "Combivent" puffer to help with the asthma.  I also was on allergy tablets.  After a while, I got used to the whole new process and am doing just fine.  Your Father will have some apprehensions.  That is normal.  He will get used to his "new" breathing, and eating, and after several months, he will probably not even think of it any more. 

Try to get him to have a good positive attitude and enjoy every day that he can see the sunshine, smell a flower and go fishing or whatever else he enjoys.