Coughing And Weighloss

My father in-law had an esophagectomy Nov 05. He never had to have chemo or radiation.  Did have a complication of developing a hole in the trachea which was fixed.  He was in Brigham and Womens for 80 days.  He came home and was doing very well over the summer.  The coughing and mucous has been a problem.  It interferes with his sleep and therefore he seems to be always exhausted.  He does have asthma and uses a nebulizer.  He had an edoscopy in Oct and everything looked great. The last 4-6 weeks He has been having a problem keeping food down and has had some belly pain and has lost about 15-20 lbs.  On Jan 2nd he summoned his children to tell them he is dying and does not want any intervention.  In his mind the cancer is back.  We - the family does not know what to think.  I am not sure....could the cancer come back that quick?  Is the coughing causing him to not keep his food down?  Also, when he came home from the hospital he was on an antidepressant and is not now.  We are all worried that he might be prematurely throwing in the towel due to exhaustion, maybe depression.....who would not be depressed.  Up until this he was a very young 75 year old.  My mother in-law is a retired nurse and has felt that she has been pushing him and now seems to be backing off.  I am looking for anything that might help.  This is so emotional on everyone.

hi,

i just want to tell you that i know what your going through, it is  really tough to see someone you love in so much pain and sufffering.  my dad has head and neck cancer also,  started in his mouth doctors said it was nothing 18 months later and four surgeries two bouts of radiation and now he is on erbitux for a new growth in lymph node in his neck..  he also coughs when he eats  . you need to tell your father-in law that he needs to take a swallow test called the barium swallow.  it lets him know if the food is going down the right pipe.  if it is not he is a candidate for pneumonia.  also they  teach him  how to swallow differently if it is going down wrong way.  its rough on them so many tests all the time so many drugs, they get tired of it all.  but we love them and  we want them to try everything to get better.   my heart goes out to you and your family.god bless

My husband is 6 years postop esophagectomy.  Last September he also had open heart surgery.  Recovered from both surgeries, but has been coughing more with increased mucous production since then.  He has had a bronchoscopy, endoscopy, swallowing studies, CT and Pet Scans.  They didnt find anything.  They say it is Gerd and put him on a ton of medications.  No real help.  Now we are starting all over again with new doctors.  Still he coughs too much.  It wakes him up in the middle of the night even propped up.  I will let you know what we find.  Good luck.