Hi i had surgery on March 6th this year to remove most of my my stomach and lower half of my Oesaphageous i had complications and infection.

[avajayne1]

surgery went well intially but then complications set in and i had further surgery (shark bite under both arms) and have been left with a stoma bag on my rooftop wound on my chest, has anyone else had the problem of a leaking wound at all?, recovery is very slow and pushing my chemo/radio further back as i still have some cancer sells (microscopic) but still a threat.

Any help would be appreciated , thanks you

[medway]

I had the same done 15 months ago, but perhaps a little different as i had jejunum placed between the remaining stomach & oesophagus to stop reflux - Merendino interposition for T1 only.

I had a leaking wound for quite a while after surgery. I had a major cut across the abdomen and one end leaked. I was told that it is quite common as any infection has to get out. In fact after my surgery there was infection across the wound and post operative action was to push the infection out through the hole!.

The treatment I received was 'silver' dressings pushed into the wound, the silver apparently killing the infection. This took a couple of weeks and I now have a hole which I am told will always be there. The dressings are quite expensive but the NHS covered the cost.

Its a long haul back after cancer surgery. Good luck with the rest of your treatment. Advances in medicine have been remarkable and you are in safe hands.

[Hidden]

I had a ruptured oesophagus that was repaired, but the initial repair started leaking, and had to be re-done, and then it was some weeks before it healed properly. It was very frustrating sitting / lying there in hospital not being able to eat or drink. The doctors really just said wait and give it time, and they turned out to be quite right. They would say that the body does take its own time, and in hindsight this is quite right; but each time the doctors come round and see you and do not do anything that you think would be an option, it gets frustrating. The experienced surgeons learn not to intervene unnecessarily, whereas we want them just to get on and do something!

The other issue is that knowing that you have some cancer cells that need mopping up, you want to get on and have them sorted as soon as possible. You probably need to express this concern to the doctors to see what their reaction is, but there are a couple of thoughts that may be relevant. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy can both be demanding on the body's resilience, and you need to be in proper shape before embarking on either, and b) the rate of spread of those rogue cells may not be so quick as we think it is - again you probably need to speak to somebody in oncology for some reassurance, if possible.

[avajayne1]

Thank you Alan, yes that's how i feel, the leak is coming from the now defunct part on the "y" the surgery itself has held well after the initial large hiccup of a piece of floating bowel, they did say it will take time and i'm still leaking on average of 70ml a day , its that small they can't even see it on a CT scan, i have since spoken to my surgeon and oncologist and we are looking at July for further treatment as they like to get on within four months post op. Must say ive been a member on this site for some months and it had been massively helpful, so a huge thank you to all that help :).

[avajayne1]

And my apologies thank you medway, they did say the leak may be always there too, i hope not as i am having a awful time finding out who's supposed to supply my stoma bags, hospital says no, and so does the district nurse! lets hope it does clear up in time, thanks all for your responses.

[gutlesswonder]

Do you still have any drains in position ?

Regarding infection:

After my Thoracotomy (incision from left shoulder across the back to under the right armpit )

22 years ago I had a nasty infection -- a sinus under the scar which discharged from a large

opening over the spine.I was terrified that it could spread internally but nobody in Hospital took the slightest notice,maintaining that it was superficial only. My wife expressed about 20ml of pus daily gradually decreasing over about 6 weeks;whereupon it was healed.

As a result I have some extra scarring but otherwise no ill effects.

I conclude from this that the immune system is a marvelous thing and that it might be ill-advised to clobber it with Chemo before full healing of the surgical insults has taken place.

[avajayne1]

Hi Gutless, no i no longer have any drains in place, but still leaking at a steady rate, some days seem better than others so i'm hoping its starting to heal, fingers crossed, i'm certainly not liking waiting too long for radio/chemo but i know im not strong enough to take it, still virtually bedbound although doing a little more each day.Thanks for your reply.