I have a looped oesphagus and my stom... - Oesophageal & Gas...

Oesophageal & Gastric Cancer

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I have a looped oesphagus and my stomach is in my chest is there anyone who has had donethe same

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murial
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Do you mean that you still have your whole oesophagus? or has it been taken out and your stomach pulled up into your chest? A lot of people have had this second version, and would be only too pleased to swap their experiences. Was there anything specifically?

murial profile image
murial

I still have my oesophagus but it is shorter and has a loop due to the op going wrong the first time hence had the second op done like this.My consultant said i was the only person in the country with my oesophagus like this but that was 4 years ago and so there must be more now. I would love to hear of anyone with this

Do you know whether you still have the valve between your oesophagus and your stomach? If not you may suffer from reflux when lying down.

Was a section of your oesophagus removed? If so, it is likely that your vaus nerve will have been parted, and this then tends to make your digestion system run at inconsistent speeds for a while.

We'll wait to hear from anybody else!

murial profile image
murial

None of this was told to me but I am taking omprazole daily. Waiting for bowel investigation to find out why I am in bad pain an hour after food and going to the toilet.

StephanieC profile image
StephanieC

I don't know anyone with a looped oesophagus either but the stomach being pulled up into the chest is reminiscent of oesophagectomy operations. It may be that you are experiencing dumping symptoms. Try and keep a food and symptom diary to take to your hospital team. Write down what you eat and when and how much and when the symptoms occur as well as what the symptoms are. Be as specific as you can. Make note of your bowel frequency but also as awful as it may sound try and describe what you see (colour/shape/odour). Although if you are having bowel investigations they may be able to obtain a lot of this information for themselves. It may be that you are eating too much at one time. Be sure to eat little and often, chew well and eat slowly. If you haven't been referred to a dietitian ask to be referred - preferably to a specialist upper GI dietitian.

The other thing to think about, it now being four years since your surgery, is to ask about seeing a gastroenterologist, preferably a consultant with experience of dealing with patients who have had oesophagectomies (but this assumes that your appointment is not with such a person!). The idea being that after a certain point in time, it is no longer the after-effects of the surgery that may be causing the problem, but the way in which your digestive tract works, and gastroenterologists specialise in that. If you think that this might be difficult, send me a message.

Most of us have the stomach in the chest and bit higher sometimes.All my oesophagus was removed and stomach is right up there !!!!! To be honest I cant tell it is.Have the usual problems with it but gets better to manage it over time which I am a year since the op! and doing well.So I guess you have the same after effects that we all have some to a greater degree and some less.I would say mine are probably halfway in between.Most important to me is I am still here to tell the tale!!!!!!

medway profile image
medway

Looped oesophagus? Can you descibe more clearly. I have a loop in the jejunum put in between my remaining oesophagus & stomach which may be to stop reflux? This may, or may not be the same thing. It could be that your loop is higher with the intention of stopping reflux. Do you have reflux?

In my case the loop in the jejunum seems to have formed a kink which stops all reflux but allows food down. Endoscope will not go down either!

At my next visit to see my surgeon I'm going to ask him for more details of why I have a loop & kink in the jejunum (10cm of intestine removed from lower down). Mine is a pretty rare op although it has been done for many years but infrequently.